Evaluation of Brucella abortus DNA and RNA vaccines expressing Cu–Zn superoxide dismutase (SOD) gene in cattle

This study was conducted to evaluate the immunogenicity of a DNA or RNA vaccines encoding Brucella abortus Cu–Zn superoxide dismutase (SOD) in cattle. Intramuscular injection of plasmid DNA carrying Brucella SOD gene (pcDNA-SOD) into animals elicited both humoral and cellular immune responses. Animals injected with pcDNA-SOD developed SOD IgG antibody with predominance of immunoglobulin G1 (IgG1) isotype over IgG2. In addition, the DNA vaccine elicited a specific T-cell-proliferative response. Furthermore, intraperitoneal injection of cattle with recombinant Semliki Forest virus particles carrying recombinant RNA encoding SOD (SFV-SOD) did not lead to the induction of SOD IgG 1 or 2 antibody, but induced specific T-cell activation. Both vaccines were able to induce a non-significant secretion of gamma interferon and did not induce the secretion of IL-4 or tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α. These results suggest that SOD gene in a genetic vaccine formulation (DNA or RNA) might be of potential us as a vaccine to induce cell-mediated immunity in cattle. To our knowledge, this is the first study to evaluate a genetic vaccine against Brucella in cattle.