Bovine TB: Research project summary
Project SE3212: Testing TB vaccines in cattle
Project duration: 6 years
This project aimed to test potential TB cattle vaccines that were developed from previous studies for their ability to stimulate an immune response and in some cases, to test whether they would give protection against an experimental infection with Mycobacterium bovis (M. bovis) . The potential vaccine candidates were screened and selected using a variety of techniques.
Many types of vaccine were tested for their potential to generate immune responses in cattle. These included parts of proteins (subunit vaccines), naked DNA vaccines, modified versions of the only licensed TB vaccine currently available BCG; and BCG either on its own or as part of a prime boost system that is the approach being developed for humans. Neonatal vaccination of cattle with BCG was also tested. The prime boost system involves priming the immune system to produce a response with one vaccine and then expanding the response with a boost using a different vaccine expressing or delivering the same antigen as the priming vaccine. This so called heterologous prime boost has been looked at with combinations of BCG prime and subunit boost, BCG prime then DNA boost, DNA prime then BCG boost, and DNA prime then protein boost. Additionally protein vaccines were modified to improve their immune responses in cattle by identifying new adjuvants (immune stimulators) and testing these with a test protein either in combination with BCG or alone in cattle.
Many of the potential vaccines and vaccine combinations generated an immune response that was considered beneficial. Some vaccines, for example BCG followed by DNA or protein subunit vaccination, were able to give protection against an experimental infection with M. bovis better than BCG vaccination alone. However, further work is needed, for example to refine and improve these strategies, and to define surrogates of protection. This is being taken forward under projects SE3224 and SE3227.
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Page last modified:
July 7, 2008