Immunization with recombinant beta-tubulin from Trypanosoma evansi induced protection against T. evansi, T. equiperdum and T. b. brucei infection in mice

The beta-tubulin gene of Trypanosoma evansi (STIB 806) was cloned and expressed in Escherichia coli. The predicted amino acid sequence of T. evansi beta-tubulin shows 100%, 99·8%, 99·1%, and 98·6% homology with T. equiperdum, T. b. brucei, T. cruzi and T. danilewskyi, respectively, but is diverse from that of T. cyclops, showing only 51·6% of homology. Recombinant beta-tubulin was expressed as inclusion bodies in E. coli. It was purified and renatured for immunological studies. Mice immunized with the renatured recombinant beta-tubulin were protected from lethal challenge with T. evansi STIB 806, T. equiperdum STIB 818 and T. b. brucei STIB 940, showing 83·3%, 70% and 76·7% protection, respectively. Serum collected from the rabbit immunized with recombinant beta-tubulin inhibited the growth of T. evansi, T. equiperdum and T. b. brucei in vitro. Serum from mice and rabbits immunized with recombinant beta-tubulin recognized only T. evansi beta-tubulin and not mouse beta-tubulin. The results of this study demonstrated that the recombinant T. evansi beta-tubulin is a potential candidate for the development of a vaccine to prevent animal trypanosomiasis caused by these three trypanosome species.