Clonagem de antígenos quiméricos contendo epítopos das glicoproteínas E1 e E2 do envelope do vírus da hepatite C e caracterização de suas propriedades imunogênicas através da imunização com DNA

Detalhes bibliográficos
Ano de defesa: 2014
Autor(a) principal: Freitas, Guilherme Ramos Oliveira e
Orientador(a): Não Informado pela instituição
Banca de defesa: Não Informado pela instituição
Tipo de documento: Tese
Tipo de acesso: Acesso aberto
Idioma: por
Instituição de defesa: Universidade Federal de Uberlândia
BR
Programa de Pós-graduação em Imunologia e Parasitologia Aplicadas
Ciências Biológicas
UFU
Programa de Pós-Graduação: Não Informado pela instituição
Departamento: Não Informado pela instituição
País: Não Informado pela instituição
Palavras-chave em Português:
Link de acesso: https://repositorio.ufu.br/handle/123456789/16597
https://doi.org/10.14393/ufu.te.2014.113
Resumo: Approximately 130 million people are infected chronically with hepatitis C virus (HCV). The development of vaccines has been hampered by the high genetic variability of the virus as well as by the lack of suitable animal models. In this study, we describe the construction of an artificial antigen based in the nucleotide sequence of the strain JFH1 (genotype 2a) containing segments of the HCV glycoproteins E1 and E2 that have been reported to elicit neutralizing antibodies against HCV. The immunogenicity of the E1E2 antigen was assessed in BALB/c mice by DNA immunization given in three doses (homologous immunization). Also, another group of mice was immunized with two doses of DNA and one additional dose of bacteria-expressed E1E2 protein (heterologous immunization). The sera of immunized mice were tested by ELISA and reacted against the recombinant E1E2 protein as well as four synthetic peptides (I - IV) covering parts of the E1E2 sequence. In addition, the antibodies present in some sera of both immunized groups of mice reacted against viral proteins in Huh7.5 cells producing JFH1 strain HCV in immunofluorescence assay. Moreover, the sera of animals had antibodies with virus-neutralizing capacity as evidenced by a reduction in approximately 40% of viral infection in cell culture. Our results demonstrate the ability of an artificial antigen, administered as DNA vaccine, to elicit specific antibodies with neutralizing capacity against HCV glycoprotein(s). Further investigations are still needed to explore the cellular immune response elicited by this antigen.