Study on cellular immunity against Mycobacterium and development of new vaccine

2021 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 19K08939
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Section: 一般
• Review Section: Basic Section 54030:Infectious disease medicine-related
• Research Institution: Nihon University
• Principal Investigator: AIZAWA Shihoko 日本大学, 医学部, 准教授 (30513858)
• Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha): 舛廣 善和 日本大学, 生物資源科学部, 准教授 (00336083) ; 早川 智 日本大学, 医学部, 教授 (30238084) ; 権 寧博 日本大学, 医学部, 教授 (80339316)
• Project Period (FY): 2019-04-01 – 2022-03-31
• Keywords: 抗酸菌 / BCG / 組換えBCG / 細胞性免疫

Outline of Final Research Achievements

In this study, we aimed to analyze cellular immunity against NTM and to develop a new vaccine to protect against infection with non-tuberculous mycobacterial tuberculosis (NTM). We examined whether our rBCG Mkan85B/DNA vaccine (DNA-Mkan85B) system could be a novel vaccine against NTM in mice. rBCG Mkan85B/DNA-Mkan85B inoculated mice showed a significant decrease in the number of bacteria in the lungs after M. kansasii infection. The number of bacteria in the lungs of rBCG-Mkan85B/DNA-Mkan85B immunized mice was lower than that of mice in the control or BCG-vaccinated groups. In addition to antigen specific helper T cells, cytotoxic T cells could be induced. These result suggest that rBCG-Mkan85B/DNA Mkan85B may be an effective novel vaccine candidate against NTM.

Free Research Field

感染免疫

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

rBCG-Mkan85B/DNA-Mkan85B接種はNTMに対する新たなワクチンとして有効である可能性が示唆された。NTM症はヒトからヒトへ感染することはないが、治療抵抗性である。本研究の成果は、世界的に患者数が増加傾向にあるNTM症に対する防御戦略開発において、新たな緒となりうる。