Evaluation of the Leptospira interrogans Outer Membrane Protein OmpL37 as a Vaccine Candidate

Abstract

The identification of potential vaccine candidates against leptospirosis remains a challenge. However, one such candidate is OmpL37, a potentially surface-exposed antigen that has the highest elastin-binding ability described to date, suggesting that it plays an important role in host colonization. In order to evaluate OmpL37’s ability to induce a protective immune response, prime-boost, DNA and subunit vaccine strategies were tested in the hamster model of lethal leptospirosis. The humoral immune response was evaluated using an indirect ELISA test, and the cytokine profile in whole blood was determined by quantitative real-time PCR. Unlike the DNA vaccine, the administration of recombinant OmpL37 induced a strong IgG antibody response. When individually administrated, both formulations stimulated a TNF-α mediated inflammatory response. However, none of the OmpL37 formulations or vaccination strategies induced protective immunity. Further studies are required towards the identification of new vaccine targets against leptospirosis.

Protective immunity of recombinant LipL21 and I-LipL21 against Leptospira interrogans serovar Autumnalis N2 infection

“…Real-time PCR (qRT-PCR) reactions were performed on a CFX96 Touch Real-Time PCR detection system (Bio-Rad, Hercules, CA, USA). The qPCR using SYBR Green PCR Master Mix (Bio-Rad, Hercules, CA, USA) and primers [12,21] was carried out in a 25 μL reaction volume (50 ng cDNA, 12.5 μL Master Mix, 0.5 μM of each primer). Primer details are provided in Table 1.…”

Immune response and protective profile elicited by a multi-epitope chimeric protein derived from Leptospira interrogans

“…Several leptospiral recombinant proteins have been reported to confer an at least partial protective effect in immunized animals. [13][14][15][16][17][18][19] Different strategies and adjuvants have been employed with the aim of obtaining protective immunity accompanied by renal clearance, [20][21][22][23][24][25][26][27][28][29][30] but to date, only a few proteins have been shown to be promising protective antigens, depending on the strategy and adjuvants employed. Based on these data, the administration of a multi-epitope fusion protein appears to be an attractive strategy to provide animal survival and avoid renal carriage.…”

Genome-Based Vaccinology Applied to Bovine Anaplasmosis

“…Usually, regions with antigenic properties are located on the extracellular loops and show variable composition, meanwhile residues in the transmembrane β-barrel show the highest conservation [61,[84][85][86]. However, the use of individual components has only been partially successful [86][87][88][89][90][91][92], although, it appears that the most relevant OMP antigens have not yet been identified.…”