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Infection and Immunity, May 2000, p. 2503-2512, Vol. 68, No. 5
Department of Microbiology and Immunology,
The Medical School, University of Newcastle, Newcastle upon Tyne NE2
4HH,1 and Department of Biology,
University of York, York YO1 5DD,3 United
Kingdom, and INSERM U167, Institut Pasteur de Lille,
F-59019 Lille Cedex, France2
Received 25 August 1999/Returned for modification 28 September
1999/Accepted 14 February 2000
Tetanus toxoid has been used widely as an adjuvant. The atoxic
fragment C from tetanus toxin (TetC) is potently immunogenic when
expressed in Salmonella vaccine strains and has been used as a fusion partner for antigens (Ag). However, there has been no
formal comparison of the immunomodulatory impact of TetC on its fusion
partners. In this study, we have addressed this important issue. The
protective 28-kDa glutathione S-transferase (GST) from Schistosoma haematobium (Sh28GST) was expressed either as a
fusion to TetC or as the full-length Sh28GST alone in a nonvirulent
aroA-attenuated strain of Salmonella enterica
serovar Typhimurium. The Sh28GST proteins were soluble and stably
expressed in Salmonella, as evaluated by Western blotting
with TetC and/or Sh28GST antisera. Mice were immunized orally with a
single dose of the live recombinant Salmonella. The
constructs were stable in mice but, dramatically, only the strain
expressing the TetC-Sh28GST fusion elicited significant antibody (Ab)
responses directed against Sh28GST as determined by enzyme-linked
immunosorbent assay. An analysis of the isotype profiles showed that
these mice also produced anti-Sh28GST immunoglobulin A and
GST-neutralizing assays revealed high levels of neutralizing Abs in
sera. These are important correlates of protection in schistosomiasis. In addition, stimulation of spleen cells from immunized mice with Sh28GST Ag showed that both strains, expressing Sh28GST alone or the
TetC-Sh28GST fusion, were able to stimulate the secretion of
Th1-related cytokines (gamma interferon and interleukin 2) to
comparable levels. Thus, TetC has modulated the immune responses generated against its fusion partner, Sh28GST, by markedly enhancing the Ab responses elicited. These results have important implications in
the rational development of live vaccines.
0019-9567/00/$04.00+0
Copyright © 2000, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.
Tetanus Toxin Fragment C Expressed in Live
Salmonella Vaccines Enhances Antibody Responses to Its
Fusion Partner Schistosoma haematobium Glutathione
S-Transferase

*
Corresponding author. Mailing address: Department of
Microbiology and Immunology, The Medical School, University of
Newcastle, Framlington Place, Newcastle upon Tyne NE2 4HH, United
Kingdom. Phone: 44 191 222 7066. Fax: 44 191 222 7736. E-mail:
Anjam.Khan{at}ncl.ac.uk.
Present address: Department of Biochemistry, Imperial College of
Science, Technology, and Medicine, London SW7 2AZ, United Kingdom.
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