Immunogenicity of transmissible gastroenteritis virus (TGEV) M gene delivered by attenuated Salmonella typhimurium in mice

Attenuated Salmonella typhimurium (S. typhimurium) was selected as a transgenic vehicle for the development of live mucosal vaccines against transmissible gastroenteritis virus (TGEV) based on the M gene. An approximate 1.0 kb DNA fragment, encoding for glycoprotein M, was amplified by RT-PCR and cloned into eukaryotic expression vector pVAX1. The recombinant plasmid pVAX-M was transformed by electroporation into attenuated S. typhimurium SL7207, and the expression and translation of the pVAX-M delivered by recombinant S. typhimurium SL7207 (pVAX-M) was detected both in vitro and in vivo. BALB/c mice were inoculated orally with SL7207 (pVAX-M) at different dosages to evaluate safety of the vaccines. The bacterium was safe to mice at a dosage of 2 × 10(9) CFU, almost eliminated from the spleen and liver at week 4 post-immunization and eventually cleared at week 6. Mice immunized with 1 × 10(9) CFU of SL7207 (pVAX-M) elicited specific anti-TGEV local mucosal and humoral responses including levels of IgA, IgG, IL-4, and IFN-γ as measured by indirect ELISA assay. Moreover, the control groups (pVAX group, PBS group) maintained at a normal level during week 4–8 post-immunization. The results indicated that attenuated S. typhimurium could be used as a delivery vector for oral immunization of TGEV M gene vaccine.