AUTHOR=Joshi Sumit , Yadav Narendra Kumar , Rawat Keerti , Kumar Vikash , Ali Rafat , Sahasrabuddhe Amogh Anant , Siddiqi Mohammad Imran , Haq Wahajul , Sundar Shyam , Dube Anuradha 

TITLE=Immunogenicity and Protective Efficacy of T-Cell Epitopes Derived From Potential Th1 Stimulatory Proteins of Leishmania (Leishmania) donovani

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Immunology

VOLUME=10

YEAR=2019

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/immunology/articles/10.3389/fimmu.2019.00288

DOI=10.3389/fimmu.2019.00288

ISSN=1664-3224

ABSTRACT=<p>Development of a suitable vaccine against visceral leishmaniasis (VL), a fatal parasitic disease, is considered to be vital for maintaining the success of kala-azar control programs. The fact that <italic>Leishmania</italic>-infected individuals generate life-long immunity offers a viable proposition in this direction. Our prior studies demonstrated that T-helper1 (Th1) type of cellular response was generated by six potential recombinant proteins <italic>viz</italic>. elongation factor-2 (elF-2), enolase, aldolase, triose phosphate isomerase (TPI), protein disulfide isomerase (PDI) and p45, derived from a soluble antigenic fraction (89.9–97.1 kDa) of <italic>Leishmania (Leishmania) donovani</italic> promastigote, in treated <italic>Leishmania</italic> patients and golden hamsters and showed significant prophylactic potential against experimental VL. Moreover, since, it is well-known that our immune system, in general, triggers production of specific protective immunity in response to a small number of amino acids (peptide), this led to the identification of antigenic epitopes of the above-stated proteins utilizing immunoinformatics. Out of thirty-six, three peptides-P-10 (enolase), P-14, and P-15 (TPI) elicited common significant lymphoproliferative as well as Th1-biased cytokine responses both in golden hamsters and human subjects. Further, immunization with these peptides plus BCG offered 75% prophylactic efficacy with boosted cellular immune response in golden hamsters against <italic>Leishmania</italic> challenge which is indicative of their candidature as potential vaccine candidates.</p>