HIV-1 Neutralizing Antibodies in the Genital and Respiratory Tracts of Mice Intranasally Immunized with Oligomeric Gp160

Because mucosal surfaces are a primary route of HIV-1 infection, we evaluated the mucosal immunogenicity of a candidate HIV-1 vaccine, oligomeric gp160 (o-gp160). In prior studies, parenteral immunization of rabbits with o-gp160 elicited broad neutralizing serum Ab responses against both T cell line-adapted HIV-1 and some primary HIV-1 isolates. In this study, nasal immunization of mice with o-gp160, formulated with liposomes containing monophosphoryl lipid A (MPL), MPL-AF, proteosomes, emulsomes, or proteosomes with emulsomes elicited strong gp160-specific IgG and IgA responses in serum as well as vaginal, lung, and intestinal washes and fecal pellets. The genital, respiratory, and intestinal Abs were determined to be locally produced. No mucosal immune responses were measurable when the immunogen was given s.c. Abs from sera and from vaginal and lung washes preferentially recognized native forms of monomeric gp120, suggesting no substantial loss in protein tertiary conformation after vaccine formulation and mucosal administration. Inhibition of HIV-1MN infection of H9 cells was found in sera from mice immunized intranasally with o-gp160 formulated with liposomes plus MPL, proteosomes, and proteosomes plus emulsomes. Formulations of o-gp160 with MPL-AF, proteosomes, emulsomes, or proteosomes plus emulsomes elicited HIV-1MN-neutralizing Ab in lung wash, and formulations with proteosomes, emulsomes, or proteosomes plus emulsomes elicited HIV-1MN-neutralizing Ab in vaginal wash. These data demonstrate the feasibility of inducing both systemic and mucosal HIV-1-neutralizing Ab by intranasal immunization with an oligomeric gp160 protein.