Journal of Clinical and Cellular Immunology
Open Access
ISSN: 2155-9899
ISSN: 2155-9899
Maryam Golshani, Sima Rafati, Mehdi Nejati-Moheimani and Saeid Bouzari
Pasteur Institute of Iran, Iran
Scientific Tracks Abstracts: J Clin Cell Immunol
Objectives: Brucellosis is the most common bacterial zoonosis worldwide and no safe and effective vaccine is available for the prevention of human brucellosis. In humans, brucellosis is mostly caused by Brucella melitensis and Brucella abortus. According to our in silico studies, Omp2b is predicted to be potentially immunogenic antigen conserved in main Brucella pathogens. The aim of this study was to design truncated form of Omp2b and to evaluate the immunogenicity and protective efficacy of a recombinant protein vaccine encoding tOmp2b. Methods: Bioinformatics tools were used to design the truncated protein based on conserved domains and regions of epitopes with strong affinity for MHC molecules. The humoral/cellular immune response and protection levels against challenge with wild B. melitensis and B. abortus infections were evaluated in rtOmp2b+ adjuvants immunized mice and control groups. Results: Vaccination of BALB/c mice rtOmp2b provided the significant protection level against both B. melitenisis and B. abortus. Moreover, rtOmp2b elicited a strong specific IgG response (higher IgG2a titers) and significant IFN-���³/IL2 production. Conclusion: According to the results, rtOmp2b is able to induce cross-protection against B. melitensis and B. abortus infections. Therefore, it could be a new potential candidate for the development of Brucella subunit vaccines.
Maryam Golshani was graduated from the Pasteur Institute with a degree in Medical Bacteriology. Presently, she is a Post doctorate fellow and Junior Research Group Leader at IPI working on new Brucella vaccine candidates. Her research mainly focuses on in silico investing the immunogenicity of new vaccine targets and in vivo evaluating their protective efficacy against Brucella infection. She has involved in more than 11 projects and published 11 papers in reputed journals.