Development of a novel Francisella tularensis Live Vaccine Strain expressing ovalbumin provides insight into antigen-specific CD8+ T cell responses.

ABSTRACT: Progress towards a safe and effective vaccine for the prevention of tularemia has been hindered by a lack of knowledge regarding the correlates of protective adaptive immunity and a lack of tools to generate this knowledge. CD8+ T cells are essential for protective immunity against virulent strains of Francisella tularensis, but to-date, it has not been possible to study these cells in an antigen-specific manner. Here, we report the development of a tool for expression of the model antigen ovalbumin (OVA) in F. tularensis, which allows for the study of CD8+ T cell responses to the bacterium. We demonstrate that in response to intranasal infection with the F. tularensis Live Vaccine Strain, adoptively transferred OVA-specific CD8+ T cells expand after the first week and produce IFN-γ but no

SUBMITTER: Place DE 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5746256 | biostudies-literature | 2017

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature