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J Med Microbiol 58 (2009), 462-468; DOI: 10.1099/jmm.0.004267-0
© 2009 Society for General Microbiology
ISSN 0022-2615

Enhanced immune response and protection efficacy of a DNA vaccine constructed by linkage of the Mycobacterium tuberculosis Ag85B-encoding gene with the BVP22-encoding gene

Wanhong Yao1, Shengwu Liu2, Xueju Qu2, Shaobo Xiao3,4, Yan Liu2 and Junyan Liu2,5

1 Department of Microbiology and Parasitology, School of Medicine, Wuhan University, Wuhan, PR China

2 Department of Immunology, School of Medicine, Wuhan University, Wuhan, PR China

3 Laboratory of Animal Virology, College of Veterinary Medicine, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan 430071, Hubei, PR China

4 National Key Laboratory of Agricultural Microbiology, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan 430071, Hubei, PR China

5 Animal Center of Wuhan University, Wuhan University, Wuhan, PR China

Correspondence
Junyan Liu
liujy2005{at}yahoo.com.cn

Received June 18, 2008
Accepted December 5, 2008

Plasmid DNA vaccines have been widely explored for use in tuberculosis immunization but their immunogenicity needs improvement. In the present study, we incorporated the bovine herpesvirus 1 VP22 (BVP22)-encoding gene, which encodes a protein that demonstrates a capability for disseminating the expressed antigen to neighbouring cells, into a DNA vector in which it was fused to the Ag85B-encoding gene of Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb), and investigated whether this linkage could enhance immune response and protective efficacy in C57BL/6 mice compared to plasmid DNA encoding Ag85B alone. After immunization in mice, Ag85B-specific ELISA antibodies and spleen lymphocyte proliferative responses induced by DNA co-expressing BVP22 and Ag85B were significantly higher than those obtained in mice immunized with Ag85B-encoding DNA alone, except for the number of gamma interferon secreting cells. In addition, based on histopathological examination and bacterial-load determination in lung and spleen, protection against intravenous Mtb H37Rv challenge evoked by the BVP22–Ag85B DNA immunization exceeded the response elicited by Ag85B DNA alone, which was not significantly different from that provided by Bacillus Calmette–Guérin (BCG). These results suggested that DNA vaccine consisting of BVP22 and Ag85B-encoding DNA enhanced immune response and protection against intravenous Mtb H37Rv challenge in mice, indicating that BVP22-encoding DNA might be a promising tool to enhance TB DNA vaccine efficacy.

Abbreviations: BCG, Bacillus Calmette–Guérin; HE, haematoxylin and eosin; IFN-{gamma}, gamma interferon; Mtb, Mycobacterium tuberculosis; MTT, 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide; TB, tuberculosis; WHO, World Health Organization.






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