Open AccessImmunization with Recombinant Brucella Species Outer Membrane Protein Omp16 or Omp19 in Adjuvant Induces Specific CD4 + and CD8 + T Cells as Well as Systemic and Oral Protection against Brucella abortus Infection
Author(s) -
Karina A. Pasquevich,
Silvia Marcela Estein,
Clara García Samartino,
Astrid Zwerdling,
Lorena M. Coria,
Paula Barrionuevo,
Carlos A. Fossati,
Guillermo H. Giambartolomei,
Juliana Cassataro
Publication year - 2009
Publication title -
infection and immunity
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.508
H-Index - 220
eISSN - 1070-6313
pISSN - 0019-9567
DOI - 10.1128/iai.01151-08
Subject(s) - adjuvant , immunization , biology , vaccination , antigen , microbiology and biotechnology , immune system , brucella , cd8 , virology , immunology , brucellosis
Available vaccines againstBrucella spp. are live attenuatedBrucella strains. In order to engineer a better vaccine to be used in animals and humans, our laboratory aims to develop an innocuous subunit vaccine. Particularly, we are interested in the outer membrane proteins (OMPs) ofB. abortus : Omp16 and Omp19. In this study, we assessed the use of these proteins as vaccines againstBrucella in BALB/c mice. Immunization with lipidated Omp16 (L-Omp16) or L-Omp19 in incomplete Freund's adjuvant (IFA) conferred significant protection againstB. abortus infection. Vaccination with unlipidated Omp16 (U-Omp16) or U-Omp19 in IFA induced a higher degree of protection than the respective lipidated versions. Moreover, the level of protection induced after U-Omp16 or U-Omp19 immunization in IFA was similar to that elicited by liveB. abortus S19 immunization. Flow cytometric analysis showed that immunization with U-Omp16 or U-Omp19 induced antigen-specific CD4+ as well as CD8+ T cells producing gamma interferon. In vivo depletion of CD4+ or CD8+ T cells in mice immunized with U-Omp16 or U-Omp19 plus IFA resulted in a loss of the elicited protection, indicating that both cell types are mediating immune protection. U-Omp16 or U-Omp19 vaccination induced a T helper 1 response, systemic protection in aluminum hydroxide formulation, and oral protection with cholera toxin adjuvant againstB. abortus infection. Both immunization routes exhibited a similar degree of protection to attenuatedBrucella vaccines (S19 and RB51, respectively). Overall these results indicate that U-Omp16 or U-Omp19 would be a useful candidate for a subunit vaccine against human and animal brucellosis.