Attenuated Salmonella sp. as a DNA Delivery System for Trypanosoma cruzi Antigens

Abstract

Chagas disease is an important neglected disease affecting several hundred thousand people in the Americas. Novels strategies for prophylactic and therapeutic vaccines against the etiological agent, the intracellular protozoan Trypanosoma cruzi, are urgently needed. Vaccines based on attenuated virus and bacteria as a foreign DNA delivery system represent a strong advantage over naked DNA-based vaccines. Here we describe the use of attenuated Salmonella carrying a eukaryotic expression plasmid encoding a T. cruzi antigen. The main advantages of the methodology are the oral administration of the Salmonella-based vaccine and the induction of a strong humoral and cell-mediated immune response at both mucosal and systemic level; favored by the adjuvant effect elicited by the bacteria pathogen-associated molecular patterns.