Dual role of the TLR-agonist profilin protein from Toxoplasma gondii: study of the adjuvant and immunogenic value in a vaccine formulation in two mouse strains with different susceptibility

NADIA ARCON, MARIANO PICCHIO, VANESA SÁNCHEZ, ROSALIA MORETTA, IGNACIO FENOY, ARIADNA SOTO, MATIAS PERRONE SIBILIA, MARIA DE LOS ÁNGELES ALDIRICO, ALEJANDRA GOLDMAN, VALENTINA MARTIN

Congreso; SAIC - SAI - SAIC; 2018

Toxoplasmosis is a disease that affects 30% of the world´s population. At present, there are no pharmacological treatments that eliminate the parasite or vaccines that confer protection to the host. The aim of the present work was to study the immunogenicity of a vaccine formulation containing a recombinant form of the T. gondii Profilin protein (rTgPF), a TLR ligand, in combination with the dense granule GRA7 protein (rGRA7), in two mouse strains with different susceptibility to chronic toxoplasmosis. BALB/c and C57BL/6 mice were intradermally immunized 3-times with a 2-week interval with: rGRA7, rTgPF, rGRA7+rTgPF, rGRA7+ACF. Naive mice were used as control. While in BALB/c mice rGRA7+rTgPF vaccination generated an anti-GRA7 humoral response with a Th1 profile and rGRA7+ACF showed a mixed profile, both formulations induced a mixed profile in C57BL/6 mice. Ex vivo stimulation of splenocytes with rGRA7 induced significant proliferative responses (p