STUDIES ON PROTECTIVE EFFECTS OF A VACCINE, BASED ON RECOMBINANT Ag85, TB10 AND FliC PROTEINS

Abstract

At present time, there is an obvious need for a new generation of vaccines as the most effective preventive approach, in order to stop spreading of tuberculosis infection. So far, the most popular strategy is aimed at heterological vaccination. The idea is to use BCG, or improved BCG, or attenuated M. tuberculosis for primary vaccination. For the further booster vaccination one may apply thw s.c. subunit or vector vaccines, containing protective mycobacterial proteins. The aim of our investigation was to evaluate protective effects of a new vaccine based on recombinant bacterial proteins Ag85, ТВ10 and FliC. We used a model with aerosol M. tuberculosis H37Rv infection, and compared lung and spleen CFU counts and life-span of vaccinated versus non-vaccinated С57BL/6 mice. As a result, we revealed three vaccine variants with comparable protective capacity against BCG using our experimental model. The most promising variant is suggested for testing in preclinical trials.

Keywords

• tuberculosis
• vaccine
• immunity
• recombinant antigens
• protection
• mycobacterium