Single-epitope DNA vaccination prevents exhaustion and facilitates a broad antiviral CD8+ T cell response during chronic viral infection

Induction of a monospecific antiviral CD8(+) T cell response may pose a risk to the host due to the narrow T cell response induced. At the individual level, this may result in selection of CD8(+) T cell escape variants, particularly during chronic viral infection. Second, prior immunization toward a single dominant epitope may suppress the response to other viral epitopes, and this may lead to increased susceptibility to reinfection with escape variants circulating in the host population. To address these issues, we induced a memory response consisting solely of monospecific, CD8(+) T cells by use of DNA vaccines encoding immunodominant epitopes of lymphocytic choriomeningitis virus (LCMV). We analyzed the spectrum of the CD8(+) T cell response and the susceptibility to infection in H-2(b) and H-2(d) mice. Priming for a monospecific, CD8(+) T cell response did not render mice susceptible to viral variants. Thus, vaccinated mice were protected against chronic infection with LCMV, and no evidence indicating biologically relevant viral escape was obtained. In parallel, a broad and sustained CD8(+) T cell response was generated upon infection, and in H-2(d) mice epitope spreading was observed. Even after acute LCMV infection, DNA vaccination did not significantly impair naturally induced immunity. Thus, the response to the other immunogenic epitopes was not dramatically suppressed in DNA-immunized mice undergoing normal immunizing infection, and the majority of mice were protected against rechallenge with escape variants. These findings underscore that a monospecific vaccine may induce efficient protective immunity given the right set of circumstances.