title: Nucleic acid vaccination of Brucella abortus ribosomal L7/L12 gene elicits immune response.
abstract: Nucleic acid vaccines provide an exciting approach for antigen presentation to the immune system. As a test of this new methodology, the immune response to the in vivo-expressed Brucella abortus ribosomal L7/12 gene in the muscle cells of mice was examined. To accomplish this goal the eukaryotic expression systems pcDNA3 and p6 were used. Single intramuscular injection of the L7/L12 gene driven by the human cytomegalovirus (CMV) promoter (pcDNA3) or bovine MHC 1 promoter (p6) resulted in intracellular expression of the B. abortus L7/L12 immunodominant protein encoded by this gene. This application facilitated directed antigen presentation to the immune system and established specific antibody and T-cell responses compared with vector only (pcDNA3) negative controls and B. abortus S19 injected positive controls. Although pcDNA3-encoded L7/L12 gene-inoculated mice possessed significant protection, p6-L7/L12 did not engender significant protection against B. abortus S2308 infection compared to positive control mice. These data suggest a promising antigen-specific response, and L7/L12 nucleic acid vaccination may be an initial step in the development of genetically engineered candidate vaccines against brucellosis. This study for the first time focuses on DNA immunization of a gene from B. abortus.
authors.affiliation: Department of Animal Health and Biomedical Sciences, University of Wisconsin-Madison 53706, USA.
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Kurar
authors.forename: G A
authors.initials: GA
authors.lastname: Splitter
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000907:Antibodies, Bacterial / Q000096:biosynthesis*; D000917:Antibody Formation / Q000276:immunology; D000918:Antibody Specificity; D002004:Brucella Vaccine / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology* / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D002003:Brucella abortus / Q000235:genetics* / Q000276:immunology*; D002006:Brucellosis / Q000517:prevention & control; D002417:Cattle; D004275:DNA, Ribosomal / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000276:immunology; D004926:Escherichia coli / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D005260:Female; D005798:Genes, Bacterial; D005822:Genetic Vectors; D006801:Humans; D008213:Lymphocyte Activation / Q000276:immunology; D008297:Male; D051379:Mice; D008807:Mice, Inbred BALB C; D012269:Ribosomal Proteins / Q000235:genetics*; D013601:T-Lymphocytes / Q000276:immunology; D019444:Vaccines, DNA / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology* / Q000627:therapeutic use*
chemical_list: D000907:Antibodies, Bacterial; D002004:Brucella Vaccine; D004275:DNA, Ribosomal; D012269:Ribosomal Proteins; D019444:Vaccines, DNA; C016700:ribosomal protein L7-L12