Immunogenicity and cross-reactivity against Mycobacterium tuberculosis of proteoliposomes derived from Mycobacterium bovis BCG

The only currently available vaccine against tuberculosis (TB) is Mycobacterium bovis Bacille Calmette-Guerin (BCG), which has inconsistent efficacy to protect against the disease in adults. M. tuberculosis (MTB) cell wall components have been implicated in the pathogenicity of TB and therefore have been a prime target for the identification and characterization of cell wall proteins with potential application in vaccine development. In this regard, proteoliposomes (PLs) derived from mycobacteria containing lipids and cell wall proteins could be potential vaccine candidates against TB. In the present study PLs derived from BCG were prepared. These homogeneous population of spherical microparticles was then immunized into Balb/c mice. Sera of immunized animals showed high IgG response and strong cross-reactivity against different MTB antigens.These results showed that BCG PLs could be potential vaccine candidates against TB.