Researchers at Purdue University and Houston Methodist Research Institute have developed a novel strategy for creating an effective vaccine for the widespread form of tuberculosis. The findings of the study were published in the journal Cell Reports Medicine.

Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) is a leading cause of death worldwide, leading to over 1.5 million fatalities annually. Approximately one-third of the global population is infected with the latent form of Mtb. Bacillus Calmette-Guerin (BCG) is widely used as a vaccine against tuberculosis but has variable protection against neonatal and adult pulmonary TB.

That protection can, however, range from zero to 80 per cent among infants. Children are routinely vaccinated, yet Mtb dissemination into the brain and tuberculosis meningitis continues to occur. Purdue and Houston's Methodist researchers have created this novel TB vaccine formulation by incorporating autophagy-mediated antigen presentation, which initiates an enhanced T cell response. Chinnaswamy Jagannath, professor of pathology and genomic medicine at the Houston Methodist Research Institute, which is an affiliate of Weill Cornell Medical College, showed that the novel formulation improves the development of tuberculosis-specific immune responses.

Jagannath collaborated with Dr Suresh Mittal, Distinguished Professor of Virology in Purdue's College of Veterinary Medicine. "Our vaccine approach is equally effective without or with prior vaccination with BCG," Mittal said. "It is vital since the majority of people in Mtb-endemic countries are already immunised with BCG," Jagannath said. Mittal's lab studies delivery platforms for vaccines, and Jagannath's lab used the nasal delivery route for this TB vaccine development.

"The great thing about this work with TB is that it can translate to other infectious diseases and possibly cancer immunotherapy," Mittal said. The innovators have worked with the Purdue Research Foundation Office of Technology Commercialisation to patent their technology. This research was conducted with research awards from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and Internal Funds.