表达HBHA和hIL-12融合蛋白的重组耻垢分枝杆菌在小鼠体内诱导的免疫应答及保护力

目的:测定表达肝素结合血凝素(HBHA)和人白细胞介素12(hIL-12)融合蛋白的重组耻垢分枝杆菌在小鼠体内诱导产生的免疫应答及对结核分枝杆菌感染的保护作用。方法:将表达HBHA和hIL-12融合蛋白的重组耻垢分枝杆菌采用同源加强免疫的方法免疫小鼠,检测小鼠外周血中IFN-γ、IL-2和IL-12的表达水平;用结核分枝杆菌感染免疫小鼠,检测小鼠肺部荷菌量和组织病理变化。结果:表达HBHA和hIL-12融合蛋白的重组耻垢分枝杆菌诱导小鼠产生以IFN-γ、IL-2分泌量增加为主的Th1型免疫应答,并能有效减少感染小鼠肺部结核分枝杆菌的荷菌量和病理损伤。结论:表达HBHA和hIL-12融合蛋白的重组耻垢分枝杆菌免疫小鼠可诱导产生与卡介苗相当的保护作用,可能成为控制结核病的有效疫苗。     

Enhanced effect of BCG vaccine against pulmonary Mycobacterium tuberculosis infection in mice with lung Th17 response to mycobacterial heparin‐binding hemagglutinin adhesin antigen

Although the BCG vaccine can prevent tuberculosis (TB) in infants, its ability to prevent adult pulmonary TB is reportedly limited. Therefore, development of a novel effective vaccine against pulmonary TB has become an international research priority. We have previously reported that intranasal vaccination of mice with a mycobacterial heparin‐binding hemagglutinin adhesin (HBHA) plus mucosal adjuvant cholera toxin (CT) enhances production of IFN‐γ and anti‐HBHA antibody and suppresses extrapulmonary bacterial dissemination after intranasal infection with BCG. In the present study, the effects of intranasal HBHA + CT vaccine on murine pulmonary Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) infection were examined. Intranasal HBHA + CT vaccination alone failed to reduce the bacterial burden in the infected lung. However, a combination vaccine consisting of s.c. BCG priming and an intranasal HBHA + CT booster significantly enhanced protective immunity against pulmonary Mtb infection on day 14 compared with BCG vaccine alone. Further, it was found that intranasal HBHA + CT vaccine enhanced not only IFN‐γ but also IL‐17A production by HBHA‐specific T cells in the lung after pulmonary Mtb infection. Therefore, this combination vaccine may be a good candidate for a new vaccine strategy against pulmonary TB.     

Evaluation of immunogenicity and protective efficacy against Mycobacterium tuberculosis infection elicited by recombinant Mycobacterium bovis BCG expressing human Interleukin-12p70 and Early Secretory Antigen Target-6 fusion protein

ESAT-6 protein of Mycobacterium tuberculosis is absent in Mycobacterium bovis BCG and Mycobacterium microti and has been demonstrated to stimulate strong cell-mediated immunity. IL-12 can play crucial roles in regulating IFN-γ production and Th1 effectors production. In this study, we constructed three rBCG vaccines that could express proteins of human IL-12p70 and/or ESAT-6 and evaluated their immunogenicity and protective efficacy in mice. Our experiments illustrated that the rBCG-IE (expressing a fusion protein of human IL-12p70 and ESAT-6) was capable of inducing stronger Th1 type cell-mediated immune responses than conventional BCG, or rBCG-I (expressing human IL-12p70), or rBCG-E (expressing ESAT-6). However, the results of protective experiments showed that rBCG-IE could only confer similar and even lower protective efficacy against M. tuberculosis H37Rv infection compared with BCG vaccine.     

Immunological properties of recombinant Mycobacterium bovis bacillus Calmette-Guérin strain expressing fusion protein IL-2-ESAT-6

The live vaccine Mycobacterium bovis bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG) provides variable efficacy against adult pulmonary tuberculosis (TB). Recombinant BCG, expressing either immunodominant antigens or Th1 cytokines, is a promising strategy for developing a new TB vaccine. However, not much is known about whether the introduction of cytokine and specific antigen genes concurrently into the BCG strain could improve the immunogenicity of BCG. In this study, a recombinant BCG strain (rBCG) expressing the fusion protein human interleukin (IL)-2 and ESAT-6 (early secreted antigenic target-6 kDa) antigen of Mycobacterium tuberculosis was constructed. Six weeks after BALB/c mice (H-2d) were immunized with 106 colony forming units (CFUs) BCG or rBCG, splenocyte proliferation was determined with MTT [3-(4,5-dimethylthiazolyl-2)-2, 5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide] assay, IL-4 and interferon (IFN)-gamma produced by splenocytes were tested by enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA,) and the cytotoxicity of splenocytes from immunized mice to P815 cells (H-2d) expressing ESAT-6 protein was measured using CytoTox 96 Non-Radioactive Cytotoxicity Assay. Compared with native BCG-vaccinated mice, rBCG induced stronger Th1 responses that were confirmed by high lymphoproliferative responses and IFN-gamma production to culture filtrate protein (CFP) or ESAT-6 protein. Moreover, rBCG induced significant enhanced CTL responses against P815-ESAT-6 cells. Results from rBCG-immunized mice demonstrated that introducing the il-2 and esat-6 genes into BCG could enhance Th1 type immune responses to ESAT-6. Further investigation is needed by introducing other Th1 cytokines and antigens into BCG to optimize the protective efficacy against TB.     

A novel recombinant Mycobacterium bovis bacillus Calmette-Guerin strain expressing human granulocyte macrophage colony-stimulating factor and Mycobacterium tuberculosis early secretory antigenic target 6 complex augments Th1 immunity

Since Mycobacterium bovis bacillus Calmette-Guerin strain (BCG) fails to protect adults from pulmonary tuberculosis (TB), there is an urgent need for developing a new vaccine. In this study, we constructed a novel recombinant BCG strain (rBCG) expressing human granulocyte macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF) and the 6 kDa early secretory antigenic target (ESAT6) of Mycobacterium tuberculosis, named rBCG:GE (expressing GMCSF-ESAT6 complex), and evaluated the immunogenicity of the construct in BALB/c mice. Our results indicated that the rBCG:GE was able to induce higher titer of antibody than the conventional BCG, the rBCG:G (expressing GM-CSF) and the rBCG:E (expressing ESAT6). Moreover, the rBCG:GE also elicited a longer-lasting and stronger Th1 cellular immune responses than the other groups, which was confirmed by the incremental proliferation of splenocytes, the increased percentages of CD4(+) and CD8(+) T cells of spleen, the elevated level of interferon-γ in splenocyte culture after tuberculin-purified protein derivative stimulation, and the increased concentration of GM-CSF in serum. The data presented here suggested the possibility that the recombinant BCG:GE might be a good vaccine candidate to TB.     

Formulation of a mmaA4 gene deletion mutant of Mycobacterium bovis BCG in cationic liposomes significantly enhances protection against tuberculosis

A new vaccination strategy is urgently needed for improved control of the global tuberculosis (TB) epidemic. Using a mouse aerosol Mycobacterium tuberculosis challenge model, we investigated the protective efficacy of a mmaA4 gene deletion mutant of Mycobacterium bovis BCG (ΔmmaA4BCG) formulated in dimethyl dioctadecyl ammonium bromide (DDA) - D(+) trehalose 6,6 dibenenate (TDB) (DDA/TDB) adjuvant. In previous studies, deletion of the mmaA4 gene was shown to reduce the suppression of IL-12 production often seen after mycobacterial infections. While the non-adjuvanted ΔmmaA4BCG strain did not protect mice substantially better than conventional BCG against a tuberculous challenge in four protection experiments, the protective responses induced by the ΔmmaA4BCG vaccine formulated in DDA/TDB adjuvant was consistently increased relative to nonadjuvanted BCG controls. Furthermore, the ΔmmaA4BCG-DDA/TDB vaccine induced significantly higher frequencies of multifunctional (MFT) CD4 T cells expressing both IFNγ and TNFα (double positive) or IFNγ, TNFα and IL-2 (triple positive) than CD4 T cells derived from mice vaccinated with BCG. These MFT cells were characterized by having higher IFNγ and TNFα median fluorescence intensity (MFI) values than monofunctional CD4 T cells. Interestingly, both BCG/adjuvant and ΔmmaA4BCG/adjuvant formulations induced significantly higher frequencies of CD4 T cells expressing TNFα and IL-2 than nonadjuvanted BCG or ΔmmaA4BCG vaccines indicating that BCG/adjuvant mixtures may be more effective at inducing central memory T cells. Importantly, when either conventional BCG or the mutant were formulated in adjuvant and administered to SCID mice or immunocompromised mice depleted of IFNγ, significantly lower vaccine-derived mycobacterial CFU were detected relative to immunodeficient mice injected with non-adjuvanted BCG. Overall, these data suggest that immunization with the ΔmmaA4BCG/adjuvant formulation may be an effective, safe, and relatively inexpensive alternative to vaccination with conventional BCG.     

BCG induces protection against Mycobacterium tuberculosis infection in the Wistar rat model

Our understanding of the correlation of Mycobacterium bovis Bacille Calmette-Guerin (BCG)-mediated immune responses and protection against Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) infection is still limited. We have recently characterized a Wistar rat model of experimental tuberculosis (TB). In the present study, we evaluated the efficacy of BCG vaccination in this model. Upon Mtb challenge, BCG vaccinated rats controlled growth of the bacilli earlier than unvaccinated rats. Histopathology analysis of infected lungs demonstrated a reduced number of granulomatous lesions and lower parenchymal inflammation in vaccinated animals. Vaccine-mediated protection correlated with the rapid accumulation of antigen specific CD4(+) and CD8(+) T cells in the infected lungs. Immunohistochemistry further revealed higher number of CD8(+) cells in the pulmonary granulomas of vaccinated animals. Evaluation of pulmonary immune responses in vaccinated and Mtb infected rats by real time PCR at day 15 post-challenge showed reduced expression of genes responsible for negative regulation of Th1 immune responses. Thus, early protection observed in BCG vaccinated rats correlated with a similarly timed shift of immunity towards the Th1 type response. Our data support the importance of (i) the Th1-Th2 balance in the control of mycobacterial infection and (ii) the value of the Wistar rats in understanding the biology of TB.     

A New Recombinant BCG Vaccine Induces Specific Th17 and Th1 Effector Cells with Higher Protective Efficacy against Tuberculosis

Tuberculosis (TB) is an infectious disease caused by Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) that is a major public health problem. The vaccine used for TB prevention is Mycobacterium bovis bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG), which provides variable efficacy in protecting against pulmonary TB among adults. Consequently, several groups have pursued the development of a new vaccine with a superior protective capacity to that of BCG. Here we constructed a new recombinant BCG (rBCG) vaccine expressing a fusion protein (CMX) composed of immune dominant epitopes from Ag85C, MPT51, and HspX and evaluated its immunogenicity and protection in a murine model of infection. The stability of the vaccine in vivo was maintained for up to 20 days post-vaccination. rBCG-CMX was efficiently phagocytized by peritoneal macrophages and induced nitric oxide (NO) production. Following mouse immunization, this vaccine induced a specific immune response in cells from lungs and spleen to the fusion protein and to each of the component recombinant proteins by themselves. Vaccinated mice presented higher amounts of Th1, Th17, and polyfunctional specific T cells. rBCG-CMX vaccination reduced the extension of lung lesions caused by challenge with Mtb as well as the lung bacterial load. In addition, when this vaccine was used in a prime-boost strategy together with rCMX, the lung bacterial load was lower than the result observed by BCG vaccination. This study describes the creation of a new promising vaccine for TB that we hope will be used in further studies to address its safety before proceeding to clinical trials.     

Methylation-dependent T cell immunity to Mycobacterium tuberculosis heparin-binding hemagglutinin

Although post-translational modifications of protein antigens may be important componenets of some B cell epitopes, the determinants of T cell immunity are generally nonmodified peptides. Here we show that methylation of the Mycobacterium tuberculosis heparin-binding hemagglutinin (HBHA) by the bacterium is essential for effective T cell immunity to this antigen in infected healthy humans and in mice. Methylated HBHA provides high levels of protection against M. tuberculosis challenge in mice, whereas nonmethylated HBHA does not. Protective immunity induced by methylated HBHA is comparable to that afforded by vaccination with bacille Calmette et Guérin, the only available anti-tuberculosis vaccine. Thus, post-translational modifications of proteins may be crucial for their ability to induce protective T cell-mediated immunity against infectious diseases such as tuberculosis.     

The fbpA/sapM double knock out strain of Mycobacterium tuberculosis is highly attenuated and immunogenic in macrophages

Tuberculosis (TB), caused by Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb), is the leading cause of death due to bacterial infections in mankind, and BCG, an attenuated strain of Mycobacterium bovis, is an approved vaccine. BCG sequesters in immature phagosomes of antigen presenting cells (APCs), which do not fuse with lysosomes, leading to decreased antigen processing and reduced Th1 responses. However, an Mtb derived ΔfbpA attenuated mutant underwent limited phagosome maturation, enhanced immunogenicity and was as effective as BCG in protecting mice against TB. To facilitate phagosome maturation of ΔfbpA, we disrupted an additional gene sapM, which encodes for an acid phosphatase. Compared to the wild type Mtb, the ΔfbpAΔsapM (double knock out; DKO) strain was attenuated for growth in mouse macrophages and PMA activated human THP1 macrophages. Attenuation correlated with increased oxidants in macrophages in response to DKO infection and enhanced labeling of lysosomal markers (CD63 and rab7) on DKO phagosomes. An in vitro Antigen 85B peptide presentation assay was used to determine antigen presentation to T cells by APCs infected with DKO or other mycobacterial strains. This revealed that DKO infected APCs showed the strongest ability to present Ag85B to T cells (>2500 pgs/mL in 4 hrs) as compared to APCs infected with wild type Mtb or ΔfbpA or ΔsapM strain (<1000 pgs/mL in 4 hrs), indicating that DKO strain has enhanced immunogenicity than other strains. The ability of DKO to undergo lysosomal fusion and vacuolar acidification correlated with antigen presentation since bafilomycin, that inhibits acidification in APCs, reduced antigen presentation. Finally, the DKO vaccine elicited a better Th1 response in mice after subcutaneous vaccination than either ΔfbpA or ΔsapM. Since ΔfbpA has been used in mice as a candidate vaccine and the DKO (ΔfbpAΔsapM) mutant is more immunogenic than ΔfbpA, we propose the DKO is a potential anti-tuberculosis vaccine.     

Immune responses and protective efficacy of the gene vaccine expressing Ag85B and ESAT6 fusion protein from Mycobacterium tuberculosis

Genetic immunity is a new promising approach for the development of novel tuberculosis vaccines. In this study, it is shown that DNA vaccines expressing the fusion protein of antigen 85B (Ag85B) and early secreted antigenic target 6-kDa antigen (ESAT6) can induce high levels of specific IgG2a antibody subtype in the mice. With the prolongation of postimmunization time, the levels of IgG2a antibody decrease gradually. Although a high-level specific IgG2a antibody subtype is also elicited by classical BCG, the ratio of antibody subtypes IgG2a to IgG1 changes 4 weeks after immunization, and IgG1 is gradually shifted to the main antibody subtype. DNA vaccines also elicit cellular immunity as shown by specific spleen lymphocytes proliferation to Ag85B or ESAT6 protein and the production of high levels of IFN-gamma and IL-2, which is similar to that elicited by BCG. Vaccination of mice with DNA vaccines expressing the fusion protein Ag85B-ESAT6 results in a significant level of protection against the subsequent high-dose challenge with virulent Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB) H37Rv. Dramatic reduction in the number of MTB colony-forming units in the spleens and lungs is observed. Pathological examination showed that recombinant plasmid and BCG groups have only minor damage and organizational structures that are kept relatively complete, while in the control group, spleens and lungs are damaged seriously. Therefore, although the reducing degree of mycobacterial loads in the organ of mice immunized with recombinant plasmid is not more than that of BCG, through the analysis of pathological changes, we may conclude that the protective effect provided by DNA vaccine expressing the Ag85B-ESAT6 fusion protein is equivalent to that afforded by the classical BCG.     

Repeated Aerosolized-Boosting with Gamma-Irradiated Mycobacterium bovis BCG Confers Improved Pulmonary Protection against the Hypervirulent Mycobacterium tuberculosis Strain HN878 in Mice

Mycobacterium bovis bacillus Calmette-Guerin (BCG), the only licensed vaccine, shows limited protection efficacy against pulmonary tuberculosis (TB), particularly hypervirulent Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) strains, suggesting that a logistical and practical vaccination strategy is urgently required. Boosting the BCG-induced immunity may offer a potentially advantageous strategy for advancing TB vaccine development, instead of replacing BCG completely. Despite the improved protection of the airway immunization by using live BCG, the use of live BCG as an airway boosting agent may evoke safety concerns. Here, we analyzed the protective efficacy of γ-irradiated BCG as a BCG-prime boosting agent for airway immunization against a hypervirulent clinical strain challenge with Mycobacterium tuberculosis HN878 in a mouse TB model. After the aerosol challenge with the HN878 strain, the mice vaccinated with BCG via the parenteral route exhibited only mild and transient protection, whereas BCG vaccination followed by multiple aerosolized boosting with γ-irradiated BCG efficiently maintained long-lasting control of Mtb in terms of bacterial reduction and pathological findings. Further immunological investigation revealed that this approach resulted in a significant increase in the cellular responses in terms of a robust expansion of antigen (PPD and Ag85A)-specific CD4⁺ T cells concomitantly producing IFN-γ, TNF-α, and IL-2, as well as a high level of IFN-γ-producing recall response via both the local and systemic immune systems upon further boosting. Collectively, aerosolized boosting of γ-irradiated BCG is able to elicit strong Th1-biased immune responses and confer enhanced protection against a hypervirulent Mycobacterium tuberculosis HN878 infection in a boosting number-dependent manner.     

Th1/Th17 cell induction and corresponding reduction in ATP consumption following vaccination with the novel Mycobacterium tuberculosis vaccine MVA85A

Vaccination with Bacille Calmette-Guérin (BCG) has traditionally been used for protection against disease caused by the bacterium Mycobacterium tuberculosis (M.tb). The efficacy of BCG, especially against pulmonary tuberculosis (TB) is variable. The best protection is conferred in temperate climates and there is close to zero protection in many tropical areas with a high prevalence of both tuberculous and non-tuberculous mycobacterial species. Although interferon (IFN)-γ is known to be important in protection against TB disease, data is emerging on a possible role for interleukin (IL)-17 as a key cytokine in both murine and bovine TB vaccine studies, as well as in humans. Modified Vaccinia virus Ankara expressing Antigen 85A (MVA85A) is a novel TB vaccine designed to enhance responses induced by BCG. Antigen-specific IFN-γ production has already been shown to peak one week post-MVA85A vaccination, and an inverse relationship between IL-17-producing cells and regulatory T cells expressing the ectonucleosidease CD39, which metabolises pro-inflammatory extracellular ATP has previously been described. This paper explores this relationship and finds that consumption of extracellular ATP by peripheral blood mononuclear cells from MVA85A-vaccinated subjects drops two weeks post-vaccination, corresponding to a drop in the percentage of a regulatory T cell subset expressing the ectonucleosidase CD39. Also at this time point, we report a peak in co-production of IL-17 and IFN-γ by CD4(+) T cells. These results suggest a relationship between extracellular ATP and effector responses and unveil a possible pathway that could be targeted during vaccine design.     

Cholera Toxin Enhances Vaccine-Induced Protection against Mycobacterium Tuberculosis Challenge in Mice

Interleukin (IL)-17 is emerging as an important cytokine in vaccine-induced protection against tuberculosis disease in animal models. Here we show that compared to parenteral delivery, BCG delivered mucosally enhances cytokine production, including interferon gamma and IL-17, in the lungs. Furthermore, we find that cholera toxin, delivered mucosally along with BCG, further enhances IL-17 production by CD4⁺ T cells over mucosal BCG alone both in the lungs and systemically. This boosting effect of CT is also observed using a vaccine regimen of BCG followed by the candidate vaccine MVA85A. Using a murine Mycobacterium tuberculosis (M.tb) aerosol challenge model, we demonstrate the ability of cholera toxin delivered at the time of a priming BCG vaccination to improve protection against tuberculosis disease in a manner at least partially dependent on the observed increase in IL-17. This observed increase in IL-17 in the lungs has no adverse effect on lung pathology following M.tb challenge, indicating that IL-17 can safely be boosted in murine lungs in a vaccine/M.tb challenge setting.     

Protection of mice with a divalent tuberculosis DNA vaccine encoding antigens Ag85B and MPT64

Tuberculosis (TB) remains to be a major challenge tothe public health in the world. It is estimated that, through-out the world, 15 individuals are affected by TB and 6 ofthem die from it every minute [1]. Drug resistance andcoinfection with HIV, which ut…     

Multifunctional, high-level cytokine-producing Th1 cells in the lung, but not spleen, correlate with protection against Mycobacterium tuberculosis aerosol challenge in mice

Boosting bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG)-primed mice with a recombinant adenovirus expressing Mycobacterium tuberculosis Ag 85A by different administration routes has very different effects on protection against aerosol challenge with M. tuberculosis. Mice boosted intradermally make very strong splenic CD4 and CD8 Th1 cytokine responses to Ag 85A, but show no change in lung mycobacterial burden over BCG primed animals. In contrast, intranasally boosted mice show greatly reduced mycobacterial burden and make a much weaker splenic response but a very strong lung CD4 and CD8 response to Ag 85A and an increased response to purified protein derivative. This effect is associated with the presence in the lung of multifunctional T cells, with high median fluorescence intensity and integrated median fluorescence intensity for IFN-gamma, IL-2, and TNF. In contrast, mice immunized with BCG alone have few Ag-specific cells in the lung and a low proportion of multifunctional cells, although individual cells have high median fluorescence intensity. Successful immunization regimes appear to induce Ag-specific cells with abundant intracellular cytokine staining.     

Contribution of L-alanine dehydrogenase to in vivo persistence and protective efficacy of the BCG vaccine

The tuberculosis (TB) vaccine strain Mycobacterium bovis BCG is unable to utilise alanine and this deficiency is thought to inhibit the growth of the vaccine in vivo and limit vaccine efficacy. In this report we demonstrate that L-alanine catabolism can be conferred on BCG by introduction of the gene encoding L-alanine dehydrogenase (Ald) of Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Restoration of Ald activity did not change the in vivo growth of BCG in macrophages or mice, and protection against aerosol M. tuberculosis infection was not altered by addition of ald to the BCG vaccine. These results demonstrate that the inability to utilise L-alanine is not a contributing factor to the attenuated phenotype of BCG and does not influence the protective efficacy of the vaccine against TB.     

Co-administration of IL-1+IL-6+TNF-α with Mycobacterium tuberculosis infected macrophages vaccine induces better protective T cell memory than BCG

BCG has been administered globally for more than 75 years, yet tuberculosis (TB) continues to kill more than 2 million people annually. Further, BCG protects childhood TB but is quite inefficient in adults. This indicates that BCG fails to induce long-term protection. Hence there is a need to explore alternative vaccination strategies that can stimulate enduring T cell memory response. Dendritic cell based vaccination has attained extensive popularity following their success in various malignancies. In our previous study, we have established a novel and unique vaccination strategy against Mycobacterium tuberculosis (M. tb) and Salmonella typhimurium by utilizing infected macrophages (IM). In short-term experiments (30 days), substantial degree of protection was observed. However, remarkable difference was not observed in long-term studies (240 days) due to failure of the vaccine to generate long-lasting memory T cells. Hence, in the present study we employed T cell memory augmenting cytokines IL-1+IL-6+TNF-α and IL-7+IL-15 for the induction of the enhancement of long-term protection by the vaccine. We co-administered the M. tb infected macrophages vaccine with IL-1+IL-6+TNF-α (IM-1.6.α) and IL-7+IL-15 (IM-7.15). The mice were then rested for a reasonably large period (240 days) to study the bona fide T cell memory response before exposing them to aerosolized M. tb. IM-1.6.α but not IM-7.15 significantly improved memory T cell response against M. tb, as evidenced by recall responses of memory T cells, expansion of both central as well as effector memory CD4 and CD8 T cell pools, elicitation of mainly Th1 memory response, reduction in the mycobacterial load and alleviated lung pathology. Importantly, the protection induced by IM-1.6.α was significantly better than BCG. Thus, this study demonstrates that not only antigen-pulsed DCs can be successfully employed as vaccines against cancer and infectious diseases but also macrophages infected with M. tb can be utilized with great efficacy especially in protection against TB.     

Whole-genome sequences of four Mycobacterium bovis BCG vaccine strains

Mycobacterium bovis Bacille Calmette-Guérin (BCG) is the only vaccine available against tuberculosis (TB). A number of BCG strains are in use, and they exhibit biochemical and genetic differences. We report the genome sequences of four BCG strains representing different lineages, which will help to design more effective TB vaccines.     

Early secreted antigen ESAT-6 of Mycobacterium tuberculosis promotes protective T helper 17 cell responses in a toll-like receptor-2-dependent manner

Despite its relatively poor efficacy, Bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG) has been used as a tuberculosis (TB) vaccine since its development in 1921. BCG induces robust T helper 1 (Th1) immune responses but, for many individuals, this is not sufficient for host resistance against Mycobacterium tuberculosis (M. tb) infection. Here we provide evidence that early secreted antigenic target protein 6 (ESAT-6), expressed by the virulent M. tb strain H37Rv but not by BCG, promotes vaccine-enhancing Th17 cell responses. These activities of ESAT-6 were dependent on TLR-2/MyD88 signalling and involved IL-6 and TGF-β production by dendritic cells. Thus, animals that were previously infected with H37Rv or recombinant BCG containing the RD1 region (BCG::RD1) exhibited improved protection upon re-challenge with virulent H37Rv compared with mice previously infected with BCG or RD1-deficient H37Rv (H37RvΔRD1). However, TLR-2 knockout (TLR-2^-/-) animals neither showed Th17 responses nor exhibited improved protection in response to immunization with H37Rv. Furthermore, H37Rv and BCG::RD1 infection had little effect on the expression of the anti-inflammatory microRNA-146a (miR146a) in dendritic cells (DCs), whereas BCG and H37RvΔRD1 profoundly induced its expression in DCs. Consistent with these findings, ESAT-6 had no effect on miR146a expression in uninfected DCs, but dramatically inhibited its upregulation in BCG-infected or LPS-treated DCs. Collectively, our findings indicate that, in addition to Th1 immunity induced by BCG, RD1/ESAT-6-induced Th17 immune responses are essential for optimal vaccine efficacy.