CD40 Ligand and GMCSF Coexpression Enhance the Immune Responses and Protective Efficacy of PCV2 Adenovirus Vaccine

Abstract Porcine circovirus 2 (PCV2) capsid protein (Cap) is the major structural protein that is responsible for neutralizing antibodies development and protective immunity, thus it is usually used to develop vaccines against porcine circovirus-associated disease (PCVAD). Porcine CD40 ligand (CD40L) and granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GMCSF) have positive immunostimulatory effects on immunocytes and have been applied in vaccine efficacy improvement as attractive adjuvant cytokines, respectively. However, whether these two cytokines can produce synergistic effect in vaccines still need to be further studied. In this study, porcine CD40L and GMCSF were inserted into recombinant adenoviruses to test the immunogenicity of PCV2 adenovirus vaccine in mice. Western blot and indirect immunofluorescence assay showed that Ad-Cap, Ad-CD40L-Cap, Ad-Cap-GMCSF, and Ad-CD40L-Cap-GMCSF were successfully constructed. Indirect ELISA and virus neutralizing assay showed that CD40L and GMCSF could enhance h...