Carboidrato -Gal acoplado à VLP como candidato vacinal contra leishmaniose causada por Leishmania infantum e L. amazonensis

• Ano de defesa: 2016
• Autor(a) principal: Ana Paula Venuto Moura
• Tipo de documento: Tese
• Tipo de acesso: Acesso aberto
• Idioma: por
• Instituição de defesa: Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais; UFMG
• Palavras-chave em Português: Infecção experimental; Leishmania; EpítopoGal; Leishmaniose Estudos experimentais; Parasitologia; Vacinas contra Leishmaniose
• Link de acesso: http://hdl.handle.net/1843/BUBD-AHSK6N

The clinical manifestations of leishmaniasis depend on a complex interaction between the parasite species and the host immune system. Carbohydrates have been pointed as essential for virulence and viability of Leishmania parasites. Secreted or on the parasite surface, Glycoconjugates may contribute for Leishmania survival and efficiently proliferate after immune system evasion.. The anti--Gal antibodies production has been reported in humans infected with Leishmania infantum, L. major and L. tropica. This study aimed to verify the presence of -Gal epitope in strains of L. infantum and L. amazonensis. We explored the - Gal epitope coupled to virus-like nanoparticles Q, (named Q--Gal) as vaccine in experimental leishmaniasis using C57BL/6 -Galactosyltransferase knockout (-GalT-KO) as a mouse model, which mimic human hosts in producing anti--Gal antibody. The -gal epitope was identified in higher proportion on the surface of L. amazonensis in comparison to L. infantum. C57BL/6 -GalT-KO mice infected with 107 promastigotes of both Leishmania species significantly decreased parasite load in the liver and slightly in the spleen, compared with Leishmania infection in mice C57BL/6 -GalT-WT. C57BL/6 -GalT-KO mice were also vaccinated with Q--Gal nanoparticles and after parasite challenge, this group efficiently controlled the infection and proliferation of Leishmania parasites in the liver and spleen, where no Leishmania parasites were detected by qPCR. The -Gal epitope emerges as a vaccine candidate to block both human cutaneous and visceral leishmaniasis