TY - JOUR
T1 - Immunocontraception Is Induced in BALB/c Mice Inoculated With Murine Cytomegalovirus Expressing Mouse Zona Pellucida 3
AU - Lloyd, Megan
AU - Shellam, Geoffrey
AU - Papadimitriou, John
AU - Lawson, Malcolm
PY - 2003
Y1 - 2003
N2 - Immunocontraception, the prevention of oocyte fertilization through immunological means, could potentially be used to control plaguing mouse populations in Australia. This paper describes the construction of a mouse-specific betaherpesvirus, murine cytomegalovirus, which has been engineered to express the murine zona pellucida 3 (ZP3) gene. A single inoculation of this recombinant virus resulted in almost complete infertility, persistent anti-ZP3 antibody production, and profound changes to ovarian morphology in BALB/c mice in the absence of significant virus replication during the acute phase of infection. Murine cytomegalovirus may prove to be useful as a vector for the delivery of a mouse-specific immunocontraceptive agent to target populations of wild mice in the field.
AB - Immunocontraception, the prevention of oocyte fertilization through immunological means, could potentially be used to control plaguing mouse populations in Australia. This paper describes the construction of a mouse-specific betaherpesvirus, murine cytomegalovirus, which has been engineered to express the murine zona pellucida 3 (ZP3) gene. A single inoculation of this recombinant virus resulted in almost complete infertility, persistent anti-ZP3 antibody production, and profound changes to ovarian morphology in BALB/c mice in the absence of significant virus replication during the acute phase of infection. Murine cytomegalovirus may prove to be useful as a vector for the delivery of a mouse-specific immunocontraceptive agent to target populations of wild mice in the field.
U2 - 10.1095/biolreprod.102.012880
DO - 10.1095/biolreprod.102.012880
M3 - Article
SN - 0006-3363
VL - 68
SP - 2024
EP - 2032
JO - Biology of Reproduction
JF - Biology of Reproduction
IS - 6
ER -