Rabies virus-based vectors expressing human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) envelope protein induce a strong, cross-reactive cytotoxic T-lymphocyte response against envelope proteins from different HIV-1 isolates.

Novel viral vectors that are able to induce both strong and long-lasting immune responses may be required as effective vaccines for human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) infection. Our previous experiments with a replication-competent vaccine strain-based rabies virus (RV) expressing HIV-1 envelope protein from a laboratory-adapted HIV-1 strain (NL4-3) and a primary HIV-1 isolate (89.6) showed that RV-based vectors are excellent for B-cell priming. Here we report that cytotoxic T-lymphocyte (CTL) responses against HIV-1 gp160 are induced by recombinant RVs. Our results indicated that a single inoculation of mice with an RV expressing HIV-1 gp160 induced a solid and long-lasting memory CTL response specific for HIV-1 envelope protein. Moreover, CTLs from immunized mice were not restricted to the homologous HIV-1 envelope protein and were able to cross-kill target cells expressing HIV-1 gp160 from heterologous HIV-1 strains. These studies further suggest promise for RV-based vectors to elicit a persistent immune response against HIV-1 and their potential utility as efficacious anti-HIV-1 vaccines.