title: Chimaeric protein improved immunogenicity compared with fusion protein of Ag85B and ESAT-6 antigens of Mycobacterium tuberculosis.
abstract: Antigen 85B (Ag85B) and ESAT-6 are important immunodominant antigens of Mycobacterium tuberculosis, and both are very promising vaccine candidate molecules. In this study, we relied on the T-cell epitopes of Ag85B and ESAT-6 to design a chimaeric protein by inserting ESAT-6 into Ag85B from the amino acids 167-182. We found the ratio of IgG2b/IgG1 and the secretion of interferon (IFN)-gamma in the mice vaccinated with the new protein with adjuvant MPL and TDM were higher than the mice immunized with fusion protein Ag85B-ESAT-6, which have been reported and could induce levels of protective immunity similar to BCG in the mouse model of tuberculosis (TB) infection. These results suggest that the chimaeric protein Ag85B(N)-ESAT-6-Ag85B(C) is a strong candidate for further study and the T-cell epitopes of the antigens should be considered when we design the subunit vaccine.
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Genetic Engineering, Institute of Genetics, School of Life Science, Fudan University, Shanghai, China.
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Q
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Zhu
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Shen
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Qie
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Wang
mesh_terms: D000217:Acyltransferases / Q000276:immunology*; D000818:Animals; D000917:Antibody Formation; D000942:Antigens, Bacterial / Q000276:immunology*; D001426:Bacterial Proteins / Q000276:immunology*; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D016207:Cytokines / Q000378:metabolism; D018984:Epitopes, T-Lymphocyte / Q000276:immunology; D005260:Female; D007074:Immunoglobulin G / Q000378:metabolism; D051379:Mice; D008810:Mice, Inbred C57BL; D009169:Mycobacterium tuberculosis / Q000276:immunology*; D017434:Protein Structure, Tertiary; D011994:Recombinant Proteins / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000378:metabolism; D032581:Tuberculosis Vaccines / Q000276:immunology*; D019444:Vaccines, DNA
chemical_list: D000942:Antigens, Bacterial; D001426:Bacterial Proteins; D016207:Cytokines; C093276:ESAT-6 protein, Mycobacterium tuberculosis; D018984:Epitopes, T-Lymphocyte; D007074:Immunoglobulin G; D011994:Recombinant Proteins; D032581:Tuberculosis Vaccines; D019444:Vaccines, DNA; D000217:Acyltransferases; C121433:antigen 85B, Mycobacterium tuberculosis