Interleukin-12 gene adjuvant increases the immunogenicity of virus-like particles of human papillomavirus type 16 regional variant strain

Objectives: To analyze the immunogenicity of virus-like particles (VLP) of human papillomavirus type 16 (HPV16) isolated in East China and the adjuvant potential of interleukin-12 (IL-12). Methods: The variant HPV16 L1VLP expressed in sf9 insect cells were purified with cesium chloride gradient centrifugation. BALB/c mice were vaccinated with VLP (L1N), VLP with Freund's adjuvant (L1A) or VLP with IL-12 recombinant plasmid (L1P). HPV16 VLP specific IgG and IFN-γ level in the serum were detected by ELISA, and the percentage of CD4+ and CD8+ in spleen cells was detected with flow cytometry. ...