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Brucella melitensis 16 M Δ hfq attenuation confers protection against wild‐type challenge in BALB /c mice
Author(s) -
Zhang Junbo,
Guo Fei,
Chen Chuangfu,
Li Zhiqiang,
Zhang Hui,
Wang Yuanzhi,
Zhang Ke,
Du Guoqing,
li Yuefeng,
Wang Jiangde,
Jian Tong,
Wang Zhen
Publication year - 2013
Publication title -
microbiology and immunology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.664
H-Index - 70
eISSN - 1348-0421
pISSN - 0385-5600
DOI - 10.1111/1348-0421.12065
Subject(s) - brucella melitensis , virulence , biology , attenuated vaccine , brucellosis , vaccination , brucella , virology , serology , microbiology and biotechnology , immunity , immunology , antigen , immune system , interferon gamma , antibody , gene , biochemistry
Brucellosis is a globally distributed zoonotic disease that causes animal and human diseases. Although effective, the current Brucella vaccines (Rev.1 and M5‐90) have several drawbacks. The first involves residual virulence for animals and humans and the second is the inability to differentiate natural infection from that caused by vaccination. Therefore, Brucella melitensis 16M hfq mutant (16MΔ hfq ) was constructed to overcome these drawbacks. Similarly to Rev.1 and M5‐90, 16MΔ hfq reduces survival in macrophages and mice and induces strong protective immunity in BALB/c mice. Moreover, these vaccines elicit anti‐ Brucella ‐specific IgG1 and IgG2a subtype responses and induce secretion of gamma interferon and interleukin‐4. The Hfq antigen also allows serological differentiation between infected and vaccinated animals. These results show that 16MΔ hfq is an ideal live attenuated vaccine candidate against virulent Brucella melitensis 16M infection. It will be further evaluated in sheep.