A recombinant subunit vaccine based on the insertion of 27 amino acids from Omp31 to the N-terminus of BLS induced a similar degree of protection against B. ovis than Rev.1 vaccination

• Published in: Vaccine 2007-05, Vol.25 (22), p.4437-4446
• Main Authors: Cassataro, Juliana, Pasquevich, Karina A, Estein, Silvia M, Laplagne, Diego A, Velikovsky, Carlos A, de la Barrera, Silvia, Bowden, Raúl, Fossati, Carlos A, Giambartolomei, Guillermo H, Goldbaum, Fernando A
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Allergy and Immunology; Animals; Antibodies, Bacterial - blood; Applied microbiology; Bacterial Outer Membrane Proteins - chemistry; Bacterial Outer Membrane Proteins - genetics; Bacterial Outer Membrane Proteins - immunology; Bacteriology; Biological and medical sciences; Brucella - chemistry; Brucella - classification; Brucella - genetics; Brucella - immunology; Brucella melitensis; Brucella melitensis - chemistry; Brucella melitensis - genetics; Brucella melitensis - immunology; Brucella ovis; Brucella ovis - chemistry; Brucella ovis - genetics; Brucella ovis - immunology; Brucella spp; Brucella Vaccine - administration & dosage; Brucella Vaccine - genetics; Brucella Vaccine - immunology; Brucellosis - immunology; Brucellosis - microbiology; Brucellosis - prevention & control; Female; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Humans; Immunoglobulin G - blood; Lumazine synthase; Mice; Mice, Inbred BALB C; Microbiology; Miscellaneous; Outer membrane protein; Ovis; Recombinant protein; T-Lymphocytes, Cytotoxic - immunology; Th1 Cells - immunology; Vaccination; Vaccine; Vaccines, antisera, therapeutical immunoglobulins and monoclonal antibodies (general aspects); Vaccines, Synthetic - genetics; Virology; Virus-like particule
• ISSN: 0264-410X; 1873-2518
• DOI: 10.1016/j.vaccine.2007.03.028

Abstract The development of an effective subunit vaccine against brucellosis is a research area of intense interest. The enzyme lumazine synthase from Brucella spp. (BLS) is highly immunogenic, presumably due to its decameric arrangement and remarkable stability. In this work we decided to develop a chimera with the scaffold protein BLS decorated with 10 copies of a known protective epitope derived from an outer membrane protein of 31 kDa (Omp31) from Brucella spp. Vaccination of BALB/c mice with the chimera as a recombinant protein (rBLSOmp31) provided the best protection level against Brucella ovis , which was higher than the given by the co-delivery of both recombinant proteins (rBLS + rOmp31) and similar than the control vaccine Brucella melitensis strain Rev.1 . Moreover rBLSOmp31 induced protection against Brucella melitensis but to a lesser degree than Rev.1 . The chimera induced a strong humoral response against the inserted peptide. It also induced peptide- and BLS-specific T helper 1 and cytotoxic T responses. In conclusion, our results indicate that BLSOmp31 could be a useful candidate for the development of subunit vaccines against brucellosis since it elicits humoral, T helper and cytotoxic immune responses and protection against smooth and rough species of Brucella.