Covalent linkage of IL-12 and ovalbumin confines the effects of IL-12 to ovalbumin-specific immune responses

In order to direct the form of the immune response in an antigen-specific manner, we constructed a fusion protein (OVA/IL12) that contained the T cell-dependent antigen, ovalbumin (OVA), covalently linked to murine interleukin-12 (IL-12). The OVA/IL12 protein was produced in a baculovirus expression system and was purified by anti-OVA immunoaffinity chromatography. The purified OVA/IL12 protein displayed potent IL-12 bioactivity in an IL-12 proliferation assay. BALB/c mice immunized with the OVA/IL12 protein produced increased quantities of anti-OVA IgG2a antibody compared with mice immunized with recombinant OVA alone. Lymph node cells from the immunized mice with the OVA/IL12 protein produced large amounts of IFN-γ when restimulated in vitro with OVA, while those from mice immunized with the OVA protein produced little or no IFN-γ. In contrast, immunization with a mixture of OVA and free recombinant IL-12 also induced IFN-γ production, which was not OVA-specific. These studies indicate that the OVA/IL12 fusion protein can induce OVA-specific, Th1-dominated immune responses, and that the covalent linkage of OVA and IL-12 confines the effect of IL-12 to OVA-specific cells.