the effect of glycoprotein b dna immuniation on hsv-l lethal infection of balb/c mice

background and aims: glycoprotein b (gb) is among the most important immunogenic proteins of hsv-1 that is now being used as recombinant vaccine to induce protectively against the virus. it is believed that gb is responsible for induction of neutralizing antibody and up to 90% of ctl (cytotoxic t cell) activity against hsv-1 in some haplotypes. methods: in the present study the antibody titer induced by a gb based dna vaccine and the protective effect of the candidate vaccine in balb/c mice in comparison with those induced by the whole virus were evaluated. dna plasmid carrying full-length of gb-1 was constructed and its ability to express the protein was confirmed by immunofluorescence test. results: humoral immune response and protective effect of the constructed vector were evaluated in balb/c mice. conclusion: the neutralizing antibody titer induced by the dna vaccine was significantly lower than the one induced by the whole virus, although, both of vaccines could confer 100% protectively against hsv-1 challenge