Enhanced Glycosylation Caused by Overexpression of Rv1002c in a Recombinant BCG Promotes Immune Response and Protects against <i>Mycobacterium tuberculosis</i> Infection
Shufeng Weng,
Qingchun Li,
Tianran Zhang,
Taiyue Lin,
Yumo He,
Guang Yang,
Honghai Wang,
Ying Xu
Affiliations
Shufeng Weng
Department of Infectious Diseases, National Medical Center for Infectious Diseases, State Key Laboratory of Genetic Engineering, Shanghai Key Laboratory of Infectious Diseases and Biosafety Emergency Response, School of Life Sciences, Huashan Hospital, Fudan University, Shanghai 200437, China
Qingchun Li
Department of Infectious Diseases, National Medical Center for Infectious Diseases, State Key Laboratory of Genetic Engineering, Shanghai Key Laboratory of Infectious Diseases and Biosafety Emergency Response, School of Life Sciences, Huashan Hospital, Fudan University, Shanghai 200437, China
Tianran Zhang
Department of Infectious Diseases, National Medical Center for Infectious Diseases, State Key Laboratory of Genetic Engineering, Shanghai Key Laboratory of Infectious Diseases and Biosafety Emergency Response, School of Life Sciences, Huashan Hospital, Fudan University, Shanghai 200437, China
Taiyue Lin
Department of Infectious Diseases, National Medical Center for Infectious Diseases, State Key Laboratory of Genetic Engineering, Shanghai Key Laboratory of Infectious Diseases and Biosafety Emergency Response, School of Life Sciences, Huashan Hospital, Fudan University, Shanghai 200437, China
Yumo He
Department of Infectious Diseases, National Medical Center for Infectious Diseases, State Key Laboratory of Genetic Engineering, Shanghai Key Laboratory of Infectious Diseases and Biosafety Emergency Response, School of Life Sciences, Huashan Hospital, Fudan University, Shanghai 200437, China
Guang Yang
Department of Infectious Diseases, National Medical Center for Infectious Diseases, State Key Laboratory of Genetic Engineering, Shanghai Key Laboratory of Infectious Diseases and Biosafety Emergency Response, School of Life Sciences, Huashan Hospital, Fudan University, Shanghai 200437, China
Honghai Wang
Department of Infectious Diseases, National Medical Center for Infectious Diseases, State Key Laboratory of Genetic Engineering, Shanghai Key Laboratory of Infectious Diseases and Biosafety Emergency Response, School of Life Sciences, Huashan Hospital, Fudan University, Shanghai 200437, China
Ying Xu
Department of Infectious Diseases, National Medical Center for Infectious Diseases, State Key Laboratory of Genetic Engineering, Shanghai Key Laboratory of Infectious Diseases and Biosafety Emergency Response, School of Life Sciences, Huashan Hospital, Fudan University, Shanghai 200437, China
Tuberculosis (TB) is a major global health threat despite its virtual elimination in developed countries. Issues such as drug accessibility, emergence of multidrug-resistant strains, and limitations of the current BCG vaccine highlight the urgent need for more effective TB control measures. This study constructed BCG strains overexpressing Rv1002c and found that the rBCG-Rv1002c strain secreted more glycosylated proteins, significantly enhancing macrophage activation and immune protection against Mycobacterium tuberculosis (M. tb). These results indicate that Rv1002c overexpression promotes elevated levels of O-glycosylation in BCG bacteriophages, enhancing their phagocytic and antigenic presentation functions. Moreover, rBCG-Rv1002c significantly upregulated immune regulatory molecules on the macrophage surface, activated the NF-κB pathway, and facilitated the release of large amounts of NO and H2O2, thereby enhancing bacterial control. In mice, rBCG-Rv1002c immunization induced greater innate and adaptive immune responses, including increased production of multifunctional and long-term memory T cells. Furthermore, rBCG-Rv1002c-immunized mice exhibited reduced lung bacterial load and histological damage upon M. tb infection. This result shows that it has the potential to be an excellent candidate for a preventive vaccine against TB.
