Immune response and protective effect against chronic Toxoplasma gondii infection induced by vaccination with a DNA vaccine encoding profilin
Abstract Background Toxoplasma gondii is an obligate intracellular parasite that can infect almost all warm-blooded animals. T. gondii profilin (TgPF) plays a crucial role in parasite motility and host cell invasion, and has shown promise against toxoplasmosis. DNA vaccine was considered to elicit e...
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doaj-3ca54404c5ff4483b2393fd917082aa92020-11-25T03:52:15ZengBMCBMC Infectious Diseases1471-23342018-03-011811810.1186/s12879-018-3022-zImmune response and protective effect against chronic Toxoplasma gondii infection induced by vaccination with a DNA vaccine encoding profilinQi Gao0Nian-Zhang Zhang1Fu-Kai Zhang2Meng Wang3Ling-Ying Hu4Xing-Quan Zhu5State Key Laboratory of Veterinary Etiological Biology, Key Laboratory of Veterinary Parasitology of Gansu Province, Lanzhou Veterinary Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Agricultural SciencesState Key Laboratory of Veterinary Etiological Biology, Key Laboratory of Veterinary Parasitology of Gansu Province, Lanzhou Veterinary Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Agricultural SciencesState Key Laboratory of Veterinary Etiological Biology, Key Laboratory of Veterinary Parasitology of Gansu Province, Lanzhou Veterinary Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Agricultural SciencesState Key Laboratory of Veterinary Etiological Biology, Key Laboratory of Veterinary Parasitology of Gansu Province, Lanzhou Veterinary Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Agricultural SciencesState Key Laboratory of Veterinary Etiological Biology, Key Laboratory of Veterinary Parasitology of Gansu Province, Lanzhou Veterinary Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Agricultural SciencesState Key Laboratory of Veterinary Etiological Biology, Key Laboratory of Veterinary Parasitology of Gansu Province, Lanzhou Veterinary Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Agricultural SciencesAbstract Background Toxoplasma gondii is an obligate intracellular parasite that can infect almost all warm-blooded animals. T. gondii profilin (TgPF) plays a crucial role in parasite motility and host cell invasion, and has shown promise against toxoplasmosis. DNA vaccine was considered to elicit effective humoral and cell-mediated immunity against T. gondii infection. The objective of the present study was to evaluate the immunogenicity of TgPF in mice using a DNA vaccination strategy. Methods A DNA vaccine (pVAX-PF) encoding TgPF gene was constructed and then was intramuscularly injected into mice with and without a plasmid encoding IL-15 (pVAX-IL-15). The immune responses in immunized Kunming mice including lymphocyte proliferation, levels of cytokines, antibody titers and T lymphocyte subclasses were analyzed. The protective efficacy against chronic T. gondii infection was observed at 4 weeks post-infection with the cyst-forming PRU strain of T. gondii (Genotype II). Results EitherpVAX-PF with or without pVAX-IL-15 could elicit higher level of IgG and IgG2a antibodies and produce strong cellular immune responses in the immunized mice. The brain cyst numbers in mice immunized with pVAX-PF + pVAX-IL-15 (1843 ± 215.7) and pVAX-PF (1897 ± 337.8) were reduced 40.82% and 39.08%, respectively, compared to that in mice received nothing (3114 ± 168.8), and the differences were statistically significant (P < 0.0001). However, the T. gondii cyst numbers in mice immunized with pVAX-PF + pVAX-IL-15 were not statistically significantly different compared to that in mice immunized with pVAX-PF alone [t(10) = 0.33, P > 0.05]. Conclusions The present study indicated that TgPF could be a promising vaccine candidate against chronic toxoplasmosis, which can be further used to develop multi-epitope vaccine formulations in food-producing animals against T. gondii infection.http://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/s12879-018-3022-zToxoplasma gondiiProfilinImmunogenicityDNA vaccineChronic toxoplasmosis |
collection |
DOAJ |
language |
English |
format |
Article |
sources |
DOAJ |
author |
Qi Gao Nian-Zhang Zhang Fu-Kai Zhang Meng Wang Ling-Ying Hu Xing-Quan Zhu |
spellingShingle |
Qi Gao Nian-Zhang Zhang Fu-Kai Zhang Meng Wang Ling-Ying Hu Xing-Quan Zhu Immune response and protective effect against chronic Toxoplasma gondii infection induced by vaccination with a DNA vaccine encoding profilin BMC Infectious Diseases Toxoplasma gondii Profilin Immunogenicity DNA vaccine Chronic toxoplasmosis |
author_facet |
Qi Gao Nian-Zhang Zhang Fu-Kai Zhang Meng Wang Ling-Ying Hu Xing-Quan Zhu |
author_sort |
Qi Gao |
title |
Immune response and protective effect against chronic Toxoplasma gondii infection induced by vaccination with a DNA vaccine encoding profilin |
title_short |
Immune response and protective effect against chronic Toxoplasma gondii infection induced by vaccination with a DNA vaccine encoding profilin |
title_full |
Immune response and protective effect against chronic Toxoplasma gondii infection induced by vaccination with a DNA vaccine encoding profilin |
title_fullStr |
Immune response and protective effect against chronic Toxoplasma gondii infection induced by vaccination with a DNA vaccine encoding profilin |
title_full_unstemmed |
Immune response and protective effect against chronic Toxoplasma gondii infection induced by vaccination with a DNA vaccine encoding profilin |
title_sort |
immune response and protective effect against chronic toxoplasma gondii infection induced by vaccination with a dna vaccine encoding profilin |
publisher |
BMC |
series |
BMC Infectious Diseases |
issn |
1471-2334 |
publishDate |
2018-03-01 |
description |
Abstract Background Toxoplasma gondii is an obligate intracellular parasite that can infect almost all warm-blooded animals. T. gondii profilin (TgPF) plays a crucial role in parasite motility and host cell invasion, and has shown promise against toxoplasmosis. DNA vaccine was considered to elicit effective humoral and cell-mediated immunity against T. gondii infection. The objective of the present study was to evaluate the immunogenicity of TgPF in mice using a DNA vaccination strategy. Methods A DNA vaccine (pVAX-PF) encoding TgPF gene was constructed and then was intramuscularly injected into mice with and without a plasmid encoding IL-15 (pVAX-IL-15). The immune responses in immunized Kunming mice including lymphocyte proliferation, levels of cytokines, antibody titers and T lymphocyte subclasses were analyzed. The protective efficacy against chronic T. gondii infection was observed at 4 weeks post-infection with the cyst-forming PRU strain of T. gondii (Genotype II). Results EitherpVAX-PF with or without pVAX-IL-15 could elicit higher level of IgG and IgG2a antibodies and produce strong cellular immune responses in the immunized mice. The brain cyst numbers in mice immunized with pVAX-PF + pVAX-IL-15 (1843 ± 215.7) and pVAX-PF (1897 ± 337.8) were reduced 40.82% and 39.08%, respectively, compared to that in mice received nothing (3114 ± 168.8), and the differences were statistically significant (P < 0.0001). However, the T. gondii cyst numbers in mice immunized with pVAX-PF + pVAX-IL-15 were not statistically significantly different compared to that in mice immunized with pVAX-PF alone [t(10) = 0.33, P > 0.05]. Conclusions The present study indicated that TgPF could be a promising vaccine candidate against chronic toxoplasmosis, which can be further used to develop multi-epitope vaccine formulations in food-producing animals against T. gondii infection. |
topic |
Toxoplasma gondii Profilin Immunogenicity DNA vaccine Chronic toxoplasmosis |
url |
http://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/s12879-018-3022-z |
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