This Article Full Text Full Text (PDF) Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Steele, K. E. Articles by VanderZanden, L. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Steele, K. E. Articles by VanderZanden, L.

Cutaneous DNA Vaccination Against Ebola Virus by Particle Bombardment: Histopathology and Alteration of CD3-positive Dendritic Epidermal Cells

Divisions of Pathology (KES, KS) and Virology (LV), US Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases, Fort Detrick, MD

We analyzed the localization of gold particles, expression of immunogenic protein, and histopathologic changes after vaccinating guinea pigs and mice with a DNA vaccine to the Ebola virus glycoprotein administered by cutaneous particle bombardment. Gold particles were deposited in all layers of the epidermis and in the dermis. Those in the epidermis were lost as the damaged layers sloughed, while those in the dermis were phagocytized by macrophages. Glycoprotein was demonstrated by immunohistochemistry primarily in keratinocytes in the epidermis and hair follicle epithelium and less frequently in dermal macrophages, fibroblasts, sebocytes, and cells that appeared to be Langerhans cells. The number of cells that expressed glycoprotein increased between 4 and 8 hours postvaccination, then decreased to near zero by 48 hours. The vaccine sites were histologically divisible into three zones. The central portion, zone 1, contained the most gold particles in the dermis and epidermis and had extensive tissue damage, including full-thickness epidermal necrosis. Zone 2 contained fewer gold particles in the epidermis and dermis and had less extensive necrosis. The majority of cells in which glycoprotein was expressed were in zone 2. Zone 3 contained gold particles only in the epidermis and had necrosis of only a few scattered cells. Regeneration of the epidermis in damaged areas was evident at 24 hours postvaccination and was essentially complete by day 5 in the mice and day 10 in the guinea pigs. Inflammatory changes were characterized by hemorrhage, edema, and infiltrates of neutrophils initially and by infiltrates of lymphocytes and macrophages at later times. In zone 1, inflammation affected both the epidermis and dermis. Peripherally, inflammation was relatively limited to the epidermis. CD3-positive dendritic epidermal cells were demonstrated in the epidermis and superficial hair follicles of unvaccinated immunocompetent mice and beige mice but not of SCID mice. These cells disappeared from all but the most peripheral portions of the vaccine sites of vaccinated mice within 24 hours. They reappeared slowly, failing to reach numbers comparable with unvaccinated mice by 35 days postvaccination. The epidermis of control guinea pigs also had CD3-positive cells, but they did not have dendrites. These findings should contribute to a better understanding of the mechanisms operating in response to DNA vaccination by particle bombardment.

Key words: CD3; dendritic epidermal cells; DNA vaccine; guinea pigs; immunohistochemistry; mice; skin.

Request reprints from Keith E. Steele, Department of Pathology Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences, 4301 Jones Bridge Road, Bethesda, MD 20814 (USA). E-mail: ksteele{at}usuhs.mil.

This article has been cited by other articles:

				A. Stoecklinger, I. Grieshuber, S. Scheiblhofer, R. Weiss, U. Ritter, A. Kissenpfennig, B. Malissen, N. Romani, F. Koch, F. Ferreira, et al. Epidermal Langerhans Cells Are Dispensable for Humoral and Cell-Mediated Immunity Elicited by Gene Gun Immunization J. Immunol., July 15, 2007; 179(2): 886 - 893. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				H. Kwon, L. Ogle, B. Benitez, J. Bohuslav, M. Montano, D. W. Felsher, and W. C. Greene Lethal Cutaneous Disease in Transgenic Mice Conditionally Expressing Type I Human T Cell Leukemia Virus Tax J. Biol. Chem., October 21, 2005; 280(42): 35713 - 35722. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				D. Alvarez, G. Harder, R. Fattouh, J. Sun, S. Goncharova, M. R. Stampfli, A. J. Coyle, J. L. Bramson, and M. Jordana Cutaneous Antigen Priming via Gene Gun Leads to Skin-Selective Th2 Immune-Inflammatory Responses J. Immunol., February 1, 2005; 174(3): 1664 - 1674. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				A. M. Pilling, R. M. Harman, S. A. Jones, N. A.M. Mccormack, D. Lavender, and R. Haworth The Assessment of Local Tolerance, Acute Toxicity, and DNA Biodistribution Following Particle-Mediated Delivery of a DNA Vaccine to Minipigs Toxicol Pathol, April 1, 2002; 30(3): 298 - 305. [Abstract] [PDF]