Immunization of mice with a novel recombinant molecular chaperon confers protection against Brucella melitensis infection.

Abstract Brucella spp. are zoonotic Gram-negative intracellular pathogens with the ability to survive and replicate in phagocytes. It has been shown that bacterial proteins expressed abundantly in this niche are stress-related proteins capable of triggering effective immune responses. BMEI1549 is a molecular chaperone designated DnaK that is expressed under stress conditions and helps to prevent formation of protein aggregates. In order to study the potential of DnaK as a prospective Brucella subunit vaccine, immunogenicity and protective efficacy of recombinant DnaK from Brucella melitensis was evaluated in BALB/c mice. The dnak gene was cloned, expressed in Escherichia coli , and the resulting recombinant protein used as subunit vaccine. DnaK-immunized mice showed a strong lymphocyte proliferative response to in vitro antigen stimulation. Although comparable levels of antigen-specific IgG2a and IgG1 were observed in immunized mice, high amounts of IFN-γ, IL-12 and IL-6, no detectable level of IL-4 and very low levels of IL-10 and IL-5 were produced by splenocytes of vaccinated mice suggesting induction of a Th1 dominant immune response by DnaK. Compared to control animals, mice vaccinated with DnaK exhibited a significant degree of protection against subsequent Brucella infection ( p p