Immunological evaluation of fusion protein of Brugia malayi abundant larval protein transcript-2 (BmALT-2) and Tuftsin in experimental mice model

• Published in: Parasite epidemiology and control Vol. 4; p. e00092
• Main Authors: Paul, Rajkumar, Ilamaran, Meganathan, Khatri, Vishal, Amdare, Nitin, Reddy, Maryada Venkata Rami, Kaliraj, Perumal
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Netherlands Elsevier Ltd 01-02-2019; Elsevier
• Subjects: Abundant larval transcript-2; Balb/c mice; Lymphatic filariasis; Pichia pastoris; Tuftsin; Vaccine candidate; Vaccine candidate; Balb/c mice; Pichia pastoris; Lymphatic filariasis; Abundant larval transcript-2; Tuftsin
• ISSN: 2405-6731; 2405-6731
• DOI: 10.1016/j.parepi.2019.e00092

Filariasis, a neglected tropical helminth disease needs vaccine besides mass drug administration for its successful eradication.
An attempt was made to produce a fusion protein (P-TUFT-ALT-2) of abundant larval transcript protein-2 and Tuftsin to enhance its immunogenicity. The fusion construct was expressed in Pichia pastoris, a nonexpensive commercial expression system. This study focused on the evaluation of immunological response produced by P-TUFT-ALT-2 in Balb/c mice.
P-TUFT-ALT-2 showed an enhanced IgG peak titre compared to E. coli expressed E-ALT-2 and P. pastoris expressed P-ALT-2. IgG2b, IgG2a and IgG1 production were predominant indicating a balanced Th1/Th2 response. P-TUFT-ALT-2 also induced about 28% and 9.5% higher splenocyte proliferation over control and E-ALT-2 respectively. Splenocytes produced predominant IFN-γ followed by IL-5, IL-2 and IL-10 specifying a balanced Th1/Th2 response. P-TUFT-ALT-2 showed 55% to 80% with an average of 65% cytotoxicity in B. malayi L3 larvae in in vitro ADCC assay.
This experiment validates P-TUFT-ALT-2 as a potential vaccine candidate for human lymphatic filariasis.
B. malayi L3 larvae recovered from culture after antibody-dependent cellular cytotoxicity (ADCC) assay with P-TUFT-ALT-2. [Display omitted]