Cloning, expression and evaluation of the efficacy of a recombinant Baylisascaris schroederi Bs-Ag3 antigen in mice

The gene Bs-Ag3 enconding a antigen of 37 kDa from Baylisascaris schroederi (giant panda isolates), as well as the recombinant Bs-Ag3, obtained by cloning and expression of the Bs-Ag3 gene in heterologous host Escherichia coli BL-21 (DE3), were used to evaluate their ability to induce immune protective responses in BALB/c mice against L3-challenge infection in a mouse-B. schroederi model. There was a significant reduction (62.91%) of mice vaccinated with rBs-Ag3 coupled with Freund's complete adjuvant (FCA) in recovery of challenged B. schroederi L3 compared with either controls or mice vaccinated with FCA alone. Our data indicate recombinant Bs-Ag3 may be a potential target as a vaccine antigen for giant panda ascariasis.