Structure and function of a "yellow" protein from saliva of the sand fly Lutzomyia longipalpis that confers protective immunity against Leishmania major infection.

ABSTRACT: LJM11, an abundant salivary protein from the sand fly Lutzomyia longipalpis, belongs to the insect "yellow" family of proteins. In this study, we immunized mice with 17 plasmids encoding L. longiplapis salivary proteins and demonstrated that LJM11 confers protective immunity against Leishmania major infection. This protection correlates with a strong induction of a delayed type hypersensitivity (DTH) response following exposure to L. longipalpis saliva. Additionally, splenocytes of exposed mice produce IFN-γ upon stimulation with LJM11, demonstrating the systemic induction of Th1 immunity by this protein. In contrast to LJM11, LJM111, another yellow protein from L. longipalpis saliva, does not produce a DTH response in these mice, suggesting that structural or functional features specific

SUBMITTER: Xu X 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3173228 | biostudies-literature | 2011 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature