Abstract
For protection against intracellular bacteria such as Mycobacterium tuberculosis and Listeria monocytogenes, the cellular arm of adaptive immunity is necessary. A variety of immunization methods have been evaluated and are reported to induce specific CD8(+) T cells against intracellular bacterial infection. Modified BCG vaccines have been examined to enhance CD8(+) T-cell responses. Naked DNA vaccination is a promising strategy to induce CD8(+) T cells. In addition to this strategy, live attenuated intracellular bacteria such as Shigella, Salmonella, and Listeria have been utilized as carriers of DNA vaccines in animal models. Vaccination with dendritic cells pulsed with antigenic peptides or the cells introduced antigen genes by virus vectors such as retroviruses is also a powerful strategy. Furthermore, vaccination with recombinant lentivirus has been attempted to induce specific CD8(+) T cells. Combinations of these strategies (prime-boost immunization) have been studied for the efficient induction of intracellular bacteria-specific CD8(+) T cells.