Antigen Targeting to Dendritic Cells Allows the Identification of a CD4 T-Cell Epitope within an Immunodominant Trypanosoma cruzi Antigen

• Autor(a) principal: Rampazo, Eline V.
• Data de Publicação: 2015
• Outros Autores: Amorim, Kelly N. S., Yamamoto, Marcio M., Panatieri, Raquel Hoffmann, Rodrigues, Mauricio Martins [UNIFESP], Boscardin, Silvia B.
• Tipo de documento: Artigo
• Idioma: eng
• Título da fonte: Repositório Institucional da UNIFESP
• Texto Completo: http://repositorio.unifesp.br/handle/11600/38759; http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0117778

Targeting antigens to dendritic cells (DCs) by using hybrid monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) directed against DC receptors is known to improve activation and support long-lasting T cell responses. in the present work, we used the mAb alpha DEC205 fused to the Trypanosoma cruzi amastigote surface protein 2 (ASP-2) to identify a region of this protein recognized by specific T cells. the hybrid alpha DEC-ASP2 mAb was successfully generated and preserved its ability to bind the DEC205 receptor. Immunization of BALB/c mice with the recombinant mAb in the presence of polyriboinosinic: polyribocytidylic acid (poly (I:C)) specifically enhanced the number of IFN-gamma producing cells and CD4+ T cell proliferation when compared to mice immunized with a mAb without receptor affinity or with the non-targeted ASP-2 protein. the strong immune response induced in mice immunized with the hybrid alpha DEC-ASP2 mAb allowed us to identify an ASP-2-specific CD4+ T cell epitope recognized by the BALB/c MHCII haplotype. We conclude that targeting parasite antigens to DCs is a useful strategy to enhance T cell mediated immune responses facilitating the identification of new T-cell epitopes.