Prospecção e avaliação de proteínas recombinantes para o desenvolvimento de uma vacina contra a leptospirose

Abstract

Leptospirosis is a worldwide zoonosis caused by pathogenic members of the genus Leptospira. In countries under development, like Brazil, the disease represents a serious problem of public health. The susceptible hosts acquire the disease through contact with urine, water or soil contaminated with the bacteria. As well as rodents, cattle and dogs are important reservoirs of Leptospira spp, making the vaccination of susceptible animals one of the main. ways of preventing the disease. The commercially available vaccines are bacterins that induce humoral immune response predominantly against the bacterial lipopolysaccharide (LPS) and are unable to provide long term protection against the infection. The outer membrane proteins of Leptospira spp have been evaluated as vaccinal candidates in animal models and are a promising alternative to usual commercial formulae. In this way, the objective of this study was to perform a trial of vaccinal preparations containing recombinant proteins of Leptospira spp, to develop a vaccine against leptospirosis. Five genes, LIC11889, LIC10666, LIC10498, LIC12666 and LIC10463 were identified and amplified from the genome of Leptospira interrogans serovar Copenhageni strain Fiocruz L1-130. From these genes, four (LIC11889, LIC10666, LIC10498 and LIC10463) were efficiently expressed in an heterologous expression system in Escherichia coli and purified through affinity chromatography. Two recombinant proteins, rLIC11889 and rLIC10666 were employed in the formulation of vaccinal preparations, used to immunize hamsters that were later challenged with the lethal dose of L. interrogans serovar Copenhageni strain Fiocruz L1-130. All the animals vaccinated with the preparations containing the recombinant proteins survived acute leptospirosis, making their use for the development of vaccines against the disease promising.