Levels of expression and immunogenicity of attenuated Salmonella enterica serovar typhimurium strains expressing Escherichia coli mutant heat-labile enterotoxin.

The effects of heterologous gene dosage as well as Salmonella typhimurium strain variability on immune response toward both the heterologous antigen, the nontoxic mutant of the Escherichia coli heat-labile enterotoxin LTK63, and the carrier Salmonella strain have been analyzed. Effects of a single integration into the host DNA and different-copy-number episomal vectors were compared in S. typhimurium delta cya delta crp delta asd strains of two different serotypes, UK-1 and SR-11. Expression of the enterotoxin in the different Salmonella isolates in vitro was found to vary considerably and, for the episomal vectors, to correlate with the plasmid copy number. LTK63-specific serum immunoglobulin G (IgG) and mucosal immunoglobulin A (IgA) antibodies were highest in mice immunized with the high-level-expression strain. High anti-LTK63 IgG and IgA titers were found to correspond to higher anti-Salmonella immunity, suggesting that LTK63 exerts an adjuvant effect on response to the carrier. Statistically significant differences in anti-LTK63 immune response were observed between groups of mice immunized with the attenuated delta cya delta crp UK-1 and SR-11 derivatives producing the antigen at the same rate. These data indicate that the same attenuation in S. typhimurium strains of different genetic backgrounds can influence significantly the immune response toward the heterologous antigen. Moreover, delivery of the LTK63 enterotoxin to the immune system by attenuated S. typhimurium strains is effective only when synthesis of the antigen is very high during the initial phase of invasion, while persistence of the S. typhimurium strain in deep tissues has only marginal influence.