PAKISTAN
VETERINARY
JOURNAL
     
 
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Expression and Purification of Recombinant Multi-epitope Protein of Rhipicephalus microplus Tick and its Antigenicity in the rabbit model
 
Muhammad Younas1, Kamran Ashraf1*, Muhammad Imran Rashid1, Muhammad Ijaz2, Muhammad Suleman3, Tahir Ali Chohan4 and Sarfraz-ur-Rahman1
 

1Department of Parasitology, University of Veterinary and Animal Sciences, Lahore 54200, Pakistan; 2Department of Veterinary Medicine, Faculty of Veterinary Sciences, University of Veterinary and Animal Sciences, Lahore 54200, Pakistan; 3Institute of Microbiology, University of Veterinary and Animal Sciences, Lahore 54200, Pakistan; 4Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Veterinary and Animal Sciences, Lahore 54200, Pakistan
*Corresponding author: kashraf@uvas.edu.pk

Abstract   

Rhipicephalus microplus, hard tick causes babesiosis and anaplasmosis in cattle. For decades, ticks control has been depending on synthetic acaricide use, however, acaricide-resistant ticks led to alternative effective and eco-friendly tick control approach such as vaccination. Currently, vaccine design using immuno-informatics is a promising method in the vaccination field. Here, we proposed a multi-epitope-based (ME) vaccine against R. microplus tick, comprising potential immunodominant B-cells, Helper-T Lymphocytes and Cytotoxic-T Lymphocytes epitopes. Then, designing of ME vaccine construct, containing sequences of Bm86, Subolesin and Bm95, was cloned into pET28a a prokaryotic expression vector. The recombinant ME protein was expressed in the Escherichia coli BL21 strain. After that protein purification was done by Nickle-NTA affinity chromatography. Evaluation of expression of recombinant ME based protein by SDS-PAGE analysis showed that optimal expression in LB medium for 8 h at 37 °C post-induction by 0.7 mM IPTG. The quality of purified recombinant protein was validated by Western blot analysis. 100 µg/2ml of purified ME protein with adjuvant Montanide ISA 50V was used in rabbits to evaluate the antigenicity of ME protein. Our study finding revealed that the expressed recombinant ME protein's molecular weight was 42kDa. The anti-recombinant protein antibodies raised in immunized rabbit’s sera was detected through western blotting and ELISA. This study results showed that recombinant ME protein is a potential vaccine candidate against Rhipicephalus microplus tick infestations.

To Cite This Article: Younas M, Ashraf K, Rashid MI, Ijaz M, Suleman M, Chohan TA and Sarfraz-ur-Rahman, 2023. Expression and purification of recombinant multi-epitope protein of Rhipicephalus microplus tick and its antigenicity in rabbits. Pak Vet J, 43(4): 778-784. http://dx.doi.org/10.29261/pakvetj/2023.086

 
 
   
 

ISSN 0253-8318 (Print)
ISSN 2074-7764 (Online)



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