• Vaccine Name: T. cruzi vaccine encoding TcG2 and TcG4
• Target Pathogen: Trypanosoma cruzi
• Target Disease: Chagas disease
• Type: DNA vaccine
• Status: Research
• Host Species for Licensed Use: Human
• Antigen: TcG2 and TcG4 (Gupta et al., 2019) - antigens phylogenetically conserved in clinically important T. cruzi strains, expressed in infective and intracellular stages of the parasite, and recognized by parasite-specific cellular and humoral immune responses in multiple T. cruzi-infected hosts (Bhatia et al., 2004).
• G2 gene engineering:
  • Type: DNA vaccine construction
  • Description:
  • Detailed Gene Information: Click Here.
• protein G4 gene engineering:
  • Type: DNA vaccine construction
  • Description:
  • Detailed Gene Information: Click Here.
• Adjuvant:
  • Adjuvant name:
  • VO adjuvant ID: VO_0001263
• Immunization Route: Intramuscular injection (i.m.)
• Description: A DNA vaccine containing recombinant proteins TcG2 and TcG4 formulated with fTr (fixed T. rangeli) epimastigotes (Gupta et al., 2019).

Mouse Response

• Host Strain: C57BL/6
• Host age: 6 - week - old
• Host gender: Female
• Vaccination Protocol: Mice were vaccinated in following groups: DNA vaccine only, two doses; DNA vaccine + fTr, two doses; DNA vaccine + QA, two doses; DNA vaccine + fTr + QA, two doses. To determine if fTr boosts the DNA vaccine-induced immune responses, mice were vaccinated with DNA vaccine followed by fTr (gp5) or fTr+QA (gp6). Each dose of DNA vaccine was constituted of 25-μg of each plasmid (pCDNA3.TcG2 and pCDNA3.TcG4) and delivered in 100 μl PBS by intramuscular (im) injection in the hind thighs. When used, fTr (1 × 108 Tr in 100 μl PBS) was delivered by subcutaneous (sc) injection. When added, vaccine was emulsified with 5 μg QA per dose per mouse. Non-vaccinated (N) mice were used as controls. Prime and booster doses of vaccine were given at 21-day intervals. (Gupta et al., 2019)
• Immune Response: TcG2/TcG4 vaccine adjuvanted with fTr also resulted in maximal levels of Tc-specific IgG sub-types. Tr-specific IgGs constituted of IgG1, IgG2a, and IgG2b subtypes were also detected in mice that received fTr as an adjuvant with TcG2/TcG4 DNA or as a booster vaccine, and maximal Tr-specific antibodies were measured in sera of mice given fTr as an adjuvant with TcG2/TcG4. (Gupta et al., 2019)
• Challenge Protocol: Mice were immunized, challenged with Tc (10,000 trypomastigotes/mouse, intraperitoneal) at 21 days after the 2nd vaccine dose, and euthanized at 21 days' post-infection (pi). Non-vaccinated mice infected with Tc (T) and euthanized at similar time-points were used as controls. (Gupta et al., 2019)