Plasmid DNA vaccines have been widely explored for use in tuberculosis immunization but their immunogenicity needs improvement. In the present study, we incorporated the bovine herpesvirus 1 VP22 (BVP22)-encoding gene, which encodes a protein that demonstrates a capability for disseminating the expressed antigen to neighbouring cells, into a DNA vector in which it was fused to the Ag85B-encoding gene of Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb), and investigated whether this linkage could enhance immune response and protective efficacy in C57BL/6 mice compared to plasmid DNA encoding Ag85B alone. After immunization in mice, Ag85B-specific ELISA antibodies and spleen lymphocyte proliferative responses induced by DNA co-expressing BVP22 and Ag85B were significantly higher than those obtained in mice immunized with Ag85B-encoding DNA alone, except for the number of gamma interferon secreting cells. In addition, based on histopathological examination and bacterial-load determination in lung and spleen, protection against intravenous Mtb H37Rv challenge evoked by the BVP22-Ag85B DNA immunization exceeded the response elicited by Ag85B DNA alone, which was not significantly different from that provided by Bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG). These results suggested that DNA vaccine consisting of BVP22 and Ag85B-encoding DNA enhanced immune response and protection against intravenous Mtb H37Rv challenge in mice, indicating that BVP22-encoding DNA might be a promising tool to enhance TB DNA vaccine efficacy.

中文翻译：

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通过结核分枝杆菌Ag85B编码基因与BVP22编码基因的连接构建的DNA疫苗的增强的免疫应答和保护功效。

已经广泛探索了质粒DNA疫苗用于结核病免疫接种，但是其免疫原性需要改进。在本研究中，我们将编码牛疱疹病毒1 VP22（BVP22）的基因编码到一种DNA载体中，该蛋白表现出将表达的抗原散布到邻近细胞的能力，该DNA融合了Ag85B编码蛋白结核分枝杆菌（Mtb）基因，并研究这种连接是否可以增强C57BL / 6小鼠的免疫应答和与单独编码Ag85B的质粒DNA相比的保护作用。小鼠免疫后，由共表达BVP22和Ag85B的DNA诱导的Ag85B特异性ELISA抗体和脾淋巴细胞增殖反应显着高于仅由编码Ag85B的DNA免疫的小鼠。除了γ干扰素分泌细胞的数量。此外，基于组织病理学检查和肺和脾中细菌载量的测定，BVP22-Ag85B DNA免疫引起的针对静脉Mtb H37Rv攻击的保护作用超出了单独使用Ag85B DNA引起的反应，这与芽孢杆菌所提供的反应没有显着差异。 Calmette-Guérin（BCG）。这些结果表明，由BVP22和编码Ag85B的DNA组成的DNA疫苗增强了小鼠的免疫应答和抗静脉内Mtb H37Rv攻击，表明编码BVP22的DNA可能是增强TB DNA疫苗功效的有前途的工具。BVP22-Ag85B DNA免疫引发的针对静脉Mtb H37Rv攻击的保护作用超出了单独Ag85B DNA引起的反应，与卡介苗（BCG）所提供的反应没有显着差异。这些结果表明，由BVP22和编码Ag85B的DNA组成的DNA疫苗增强了小鼠的免疫应答和抗静脉内Mtb H37Rv攻击，表明编码BVP22的DNA可能是增强TB DNA疫苗功效的有前途的工具。BVP22-Ag85B DNA免疫引发的针对静脉Mtb H37Rv攻击的保护作用超出了单独Ag85B DNA引起的反应，与卡介苗（BCG）所提供的反应没有显着差异。这些结果表明，由BVP22和编码Ag85B的DNA组成的DNA疫苗增强了小鼠的免疫应答和抗静脉内Mtb H37Rv攻击，表明编码BVP22的DNA可能是增强TB DNA疫苗功效的有前途的工具。