Recombinant BCG coexpressing Ag85B, CFP10, and interleukin-12 induces multifunctional Th1 and memory T cells in mice

• Published in: APMIS : acta pathologica, microbiologica et immunologica Scandinavica microbiologica et immunologica Scandinavica, 2012-01, Vol.120 (1), p.72-82
• Main Authors: LIN, CHIH-WEI, SU, IH-JEN, CHANG, JIA-RU, CHEN, YIH-YUAN, LU, JANG-JIH, DOU, HORNG-YUNN
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Acyltransferases - genetics; Acyltransferases - immunology; Animals; Antibodies, Bacterial - blood; Antigens, Bacterial - genetics; Antigens, Bacterial - immunology; Bacterial Proteins - genetics; Bacterial Proteins - immunology; Base Sequence; BCG; BCG Vaccine - genetics; BCG Vaccine - immunology; Cytokines; Cytokines - biosynthesis; DNA Primers - genetics; Female; Helper cells; Humans; Immunogenicity; Immunologic Memory; Immunological memory; Interleukin 12; Interleukin-12 - genetics; Interleukin-12 - immunology; Lung; Lymphocytes; Lymphocytes T; Memory cells; Mice; Mice, Inbred C3H; Mice, Inbred C57BL; Mycobacterium bovis - genetics; Mycobacterium bovis - immunology; Mycobacterium bovis Bacille Calmette Guérin; Mycobacterium tuberculosis; Plasmids; Spleen; Spleen - immunology; T cell receptors; T-Lymphocyte Subsets - immunology; Th1 Cells - immunology; Tuberculosis; Tuberculosis - immunology; Tuberculosis - microbiology; Tuberculosis - prevention & control; Vaccines; Vaccines, Synthetic - genetics; Vaccines, Synthetic - immunology
• ISSN: 0903-4641; 1600-0463
• DOI: 10.1111/j.1600-0463.2011.02815.x

Lin C‐W, Su I‐J, Chang J‐R, Chen Y‐Y, Lu J‐J, Dou H‐Y. Recombinant BCG coexpressing Ag85B, CFP10, and interleukin‐12 induces multifunctional Th1 and memory T cells in mice. APMIS 2012; 120: 72–82. Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB) continues to be a leading cause of human deaths due to an infectious agent. Current efforts are focused on making better TB vaccines. We describe the generation and immunological characterization of recombinant BCG (rBCG). This rBCG was generated by incorporating an expression plasmid encoding two mycobacterial antigens (Ag85B and CFP10) and human interleukin (IL)‐12 into a BCG strain. Immunogenicity studies in mice showed that rBCG coexpressing Ag85B, CFP10, and IL‐12 (rBCG::Ag85B–CFP10–IL‐12) induces a robust immune response in mice. The rBCG vaccine promotes a T‐cell response against MTB that is characterized by a high proportion of polyfunctional and memory T cells in spleen and lung. Our results showed strong immunogenicity and mycobacterial growth inhibition of rBCG::Ag85B–CFP10 plus IL‐12 than that of BCG vaccine.