Enhanced Induction of T Cell Immunity Using Dendritic Cells Pulsed with HIV Tat and HCMV-pp65 Fusion Protein In Vitro

Background: Cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTLs) appear to play an important role in the control and prevention of human cy- tomegalovirus (HCMV) infection. The pp65 antigen is a structural protein, which has been defined as a potential tar- get for effective immunity against HCMV infection. Incorpo- ration of an 11 amino acid region of the HIV TAT protein transduction domain (Tat) into protein facilitates rapid, effi- cient entry into cells. Methods: To establish a strategy for the generation of HCMV-specific CTLs in vitro, recombinant truncated N- and C-terminal pp65 protein (pp65 NC11(3):182-189)