Subcutaneous immunization with a novel immunogenic candidate (urease) confers protection against Brucella abortus and Brucella melitensis infections |
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| Authors: | Morteza Abkar Jafar Amani Abbas Sahebghadam Lotfi Gholamreza Nikbakht Brujeni Saeed Alamian Mehdi Kamali |
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| Affiliation: | 1. Department of Molecular Genetics, Faculty of Basic Sciences, Tarbiat Modares University, Tehran, Iran;2. Applied Microbiology Research Center, Baqiyatallah University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran;3. Department of Clinical Biochemistry, Faculty of Medicine, Tarbiat Modares University, Tehran, Iran;4. Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran;5. Brucellosis Department, Razi Vaccine and Serum Research Institute, Karaj, Iran;6. Nanobiotechnology Research Center, Baqiyatallah University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran |
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| Abstract: | Brucellosis is a world prevalent endemic illness that is transmitted from domestic animals to humans. Brucella spp. exploits urease for survival in the harsh conditions of stomach during the gastrointestinal infection. In this study, we examined the immune response and the protection elicited by using recombinant Brucella urease (rUrease) vaccination in BALB/c mice. The urease gene was cloned in pET28a and the resulting recombinant protein was employed as subunit vaccine. Recombinant protein was administered subcutaneously and intraperitoneally. Dosage reduction was observed with subcutaneous (SC) vaccination when compared with intraperitoneal (IP) vaccination. rUrease induced mixed Th1–Th2 immune responses with high titers of specific IgG1 and IgG2a. In lymphocyte proliferation assay, splenocytes from IP and SC‐vaccinated mice displayed a strong recall proliferative response with high amounts of IL‐4, IL‐12 and IFN‐γ production. Vaccinated mice were challenged with virulent Brucella melitensis, B. abortus and B. suis. The SC vaccination route exhibited a higher degree of protection than IP vaccination (p value ≤ 0.05). Altogether, our results indicated that rUrease could be a useful antigen candidate for the development of subunit vaccines against brucellosis. |
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| Keywords: | Brucellosis urease subcutaneous intraperitoneal subunit vaccine |
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