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A chimeric protein encompassing hepatitis C virus epitopes is able to elicit both humoral and cell‐mediated immune responses in mice
Author(s) -
AguilarNoriega Daylen,
AlvarezLajonchere Liz,
Brown Emma,
Santana Felix Leonardo,
Dubuisson Jean,
Wychowski Czeslaw,
Guerra Ivis,
MartínezDonato Gillian,
Pérez Angel,
AmadorCañizares Yalena,
DueñasCarrera Santiago
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
biotechnology and applied biochemistry
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.468
H-Index - 70
eISSN - 1470-8744
pISSN - 0885-4513
DOI - 10.1002/bab.1223
Subject(s) - immune system , virology , biology , hepatitis c virus , epitope , adjuvant , antibody , antigen , virus , humoral immunity , heterologous , immunization , immunology , biochemistry , gene
Hepatitis C virus ( HCV ) infection is a worldwide health problem. Vaccines against this pathogen are not available and advances in this field are limited because of the high genetic variability of the virus, inaccessibility of animal models, and incomplete definition of immunological correlates of protection. In the present work, a chimeric protein, E q1, encompassing HCV amino acid regions from structural antigens, was generated. E q1 was expressed in GC ‐366 bacterial cells. After cell disruption, E q1 was purified from the insoluble fraction by sequential steps of differential solubilization and metal chelating affinity chromatography. E q1 was specifically recognized by anti‐ HCV positive human sera. Moreover, immunization of BALB /c mice with different doses of E q1 formulated either in A lum or F reund's incomplete adjuvant elicited both humoral‐ and cellular‐specific immune responses. Doses of 20 µg of E q1 induced the strongest cell‐mediated immune responses and only the formulation of this dose in A lum elicited a neutralizing antibody response against heterologous cell culture HCV . All these data together indicate that E q1 is immunogenic in mice and might be an interesting component of vaccine candidates against HCV infection.