Immune response to rotavirus VP4 expressed in an attenuated strain of Shigella flexneri

An attenuated strain of Shigella flexneri was utilised to express viral pro tein (VP) 4 of rotavirus and the immunogenicity of the recombinant construc ts was studied in BALB/c mice. VP4 was expressed as a fusion with maltose b inding protein (MBP) in both the cytoplasm and periplasm, with a much highe r level of expression occurring in the former. While all constructs induced a Shigella-specific response in mice, only the construct expressing MBP-VP 4 in the cytoplasm of Shigella stimulated an immune response specific to ro tavirus. This study demonstrates that Shigella can be used to deliver rotav irus antigens and induces an immune response directed towards both rotaviru s and Shigella. (C) 1999 Federation of European Microbiological Societies. Published by Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.