title: A comparative evaluation of different DNA vaccine candidates against experimental murine leishmaniasis due to L. major.
abstract: Over the past few years, several reports of DNA vaccines against murine cutaneous experimental leishmaniasis came out with promising but sometimes discordant results. The present studies were designed to compare, under similar conditions, the protective effects in the highly susceptible BALB/c mice of DNA vaccine candidates encoding to various Leishmania major antigens. The candidate DNA vaccines encode to the following antigens: LACK, PSA2, Gp63, LeIF and two newly identified p20 and Ribosomal like protein, in addition to different truncated portions of the LACK antigen. The most promising gene was LACK and it is more protective when it is used as a p24 truncated form. Furthermore, the presence of a tandem repeats of immunostimulating sequences (ISS) in the plasmid backbone played an important adjuvant effect in the observed protective effect induced by the DNA vaccine encoding to the LACKp24. Nevertheless, neither of the DNA vaccine candidates was able to mount a full protection in BALB/c mice challenged with a highly virulent L. major strain. Further improvements of the DNA vaccination approach are still needed to design a fully protective vaccine against leishmaniasis. Three directions of investigations are currently explored: DNA vaccines using a cocktail of antigens; Prime/Boost approach; and association of immune modulators with the candidate antigens.
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Immunology, Vaccinology and Molecular Genetics, Institut Pasteur de Tunis, 13, Place Pasteur BP-74, 1002 Tunis-Belvedere, Tunisia.
authors.forename: Sami Ben Hadj
authors.initials: SB
authors.lastname: Ahmed
authors.forename: Chokri
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Bahloul
authors.forename: Cyrine
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Robbana
authors.forename: Souhir
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Askri
authors.forename: Koussay
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Dellagi
mesh_terms: D000276:Adjuvants, Immunologic; D000818:Animals; D000942:Antigens, Bacterial / Q000276:immunology; D007700:Kinetics; D018320:Leishmania major / Q000276:immunology*; D016773:Leishmaniasis, Cutaneous / Q000276:immunology* / Q000517:prevention & control*; D051379:Mice; D008807:Mice, Inbred BALB C; D008809:Mice, Inbred C3H; D010957:Plasmids / Q000276:immunology; D016052:Protozoan Vaccines / Q000276:immunology*; D019444:Vaccines, DNA / Q000276:immunology
chemical_list: D000276:Adjuvants, Immunologic; D000942:Antigens, Bacterial; D016052:Protozoan Vaccines; D019444:Vaccines, DNA