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Wang C, Li Y, Wang S, Yan X, Xiao J, Chen Y, Zheng K, Tan Y, Yu J, Lu C, Wu Y. Evaluation of a tandem Chlamydia psittaci Pgp3 multiepitope peptide vaccine against a pulmonary chlamydial challenge in mice. Microb Pathog 2020; 147:104256. [PMID: 32416138 DOI: 10.1016/j.micpath.2020.104256] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/13/2020] [Revised: 05/08/2020] [Accepted: 05/08/2020] [Indexed: 12/24/2022]
Abstract
Chlamydia psittaci is the pathogen of psittacosis, and it has emerged as a significant public health threat. Because most infections are easily overlooked, a vaccine is recognized as the best solution to control the spread of C. psittaci. Our previous study showed that Pgp3 protein is efficacious as a subunit vaccine while not the best candidate due to the negative effects. Thus, in this study, we tested the ability of a tandem epitope vaccine candidate designated SP based on Pgp3-dominant epitopes to induce protective immunity against pulmonary chlamydial infection. BALB/c mice were intraperitoneally inoculated with multiepitope peptide antigens followed by intranasal infection with C. psittaci. We found that the multiepitope peptide antigens induced strong humoral and cellular immune responses with high Th1-related (IFN-γ and IL-2) and proinflammatory (IL-6) cytokine levels. Meanwhile, the pathogen burden and inflammatory infiltration were significantly reduced in lungs of SP-immunized mice after chlamydial challenge. In addition, the IFN-γ and IL-6 secretion levels in the infected lungs were substantially reduced. Overall, our findings demonstrate that the peptide vaccine SP plays a significant role with good immunogenicity and protective efficacy against C. psittaci lung infection in BALB/c mice, providing important insights towards understanding the potential of peptide vaccines as new vaccine antigens for inducing protective immunity against chlamydial infection.
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Affiliation(s)
- Chuan Wang
- Institute of Pathogenic Biology, Hengyang Medical College, University of South China, Hunan Provincial Key Laboratory for Special Pathogens Prevention and Control, Hengyang, China; Hunan Province Cooperative Innovation Center for Molecular Target New Drug Study, Hengyang, 421001, China
| | - Yumeng Li
- Institute of Pathogenic Biology, Hengyang Medical College, University of South China, Hunan Provincial Key Laboratory for Special Pathogens Prevention and Control, Hengyang, China; Hunan Province Cooperative Innovation Center for Molecular Target New Drug Study, Hengyang, 421001, China
| | - Shuzhi Wang
- Institute of Pharmacy and Pharmacology, University of South China, Hengyang, 421001, China
| | - Xiaoliang Yan
- Institute of Pathogenic Biology, Hengyang Medical College, University of South China, Hunan Provincial Key Laboratory for Special Pathogens Prevention and Control, Hengyang, China; Hunan Province Cooperative Innovation Center for Molecular Target New Drug Study, Hengyang, 421001, China
| | - Jian Xiao
- Institute of Pathogenic Biology, Hengyang Medical College, University of South China, Hunan Provincial Key Laboratory for Special Pathogens Prevention and Control, Hengyang, China; Hunan Province Cooperative Innovation Center for Molecular Target New Drug Study, Hengyang, 421001, China
| | - Yuqing Chen
- Institute of Pathogenic Biology, Hengyang Medical College, University of South China, Hunan Provincial Key Laboratory for Special Pathogens Prevention and Control, Hengyang, China; Hunan Province Cooperative Innovation Center for Molecular Target New Drug Study, Hengyang, 421001, China
| | - Kang Zheng
- Institute of Pathogenic Biology, Hengyang Medical College, University of South China, Hunan Provincial Key Laboratory for Special Pathogens Prevention and Control, Hengyang, China; Hunan Province Cooperative Innovation Center for Molecular Target New Drug Study, Hengyang, 421001, China
| | - Yuan Tan
- Institute of Pathogenic Biology, Hengyang Medical College, University of South China, Hunan Provincial Key Laboratory for Special Pathogens Prevention and Control, Hengyang, China; Hunan Province Cooperative Innovation Center for Molecular Target New Drug Study, Hengyang, 421001, China
| | - Jian Yu
- Department of Experimental Zoology, Hengyang Medical College, University of South China, Hengyang, 421001, China
| | - Chunxue Lu
- Institute of Pathogenic Biology, Hengyang Medical College, University of South China, Hunan Provincial Key Laboratory for Special Pathogens Prevention and Control, Hengyang, China; Hunan Province Cooperative Innovation Center for Molecular Target New Drug Study, Hengyang, 421001, China
| | - Yimou Wu
- Institute of Pathogenic Biology, Hengyang Medical College, University of South China, Hunan Provincial Key Laboratory for Special Pathogens Prevention and Control, Hengyang, China; Hunan Province Cooperative Innovation Center for Molecular Target New Drug Study, Hengyang, 421001, China.
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Mosolygó T, Szabó AM, Balogh EP, Faludi I, Virók DP, Endrész V, Samu A, Krenács T, Burián K. Protection promoted by pGP3 or pGP4 against Chlamydia muridarum is mediated by CD4(+) cells in C57BL/6N mice. Vaccine 2014; 32:5228-33. [PMID: 25077421 DOI: 10.1016/j.vaccine.2014.07.039] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/25/2014] [Revised: 06/26/2014] [Accepted: 07/09/2014] [Indexed: 01/03/2023]
Abstract
Urogenital tract infection with Chlamydia trachomatis is a leading cause of sexually transmitted infections. There is currently no commercially available vaccine against C. trachomatis. The highly conserved plasmid of chlamydiae has been considered to be a virulence factor and the plasmid proteins have important roles in the Chlamydia-specific immune response. This study was designed to evaluate the efficacy of vaccination with plasmid proteins in the prevention of C. muridarum lung infection in a mouse model. C57BL/6N mice were immunised 3 times subcutaneously with recombinant pGP3 or pGP4 and infected with C. muridarum. Immunisation of the mice with recombinant pGP3 or pGP4 protein caused a significantly lower chlamydial burden in the lungs of the infected mice; the lower IFN-γ level indicated a reduced extent of inflammation. In vitro or in vivo neutralisation of C. muridarum with sera obtained from immunised mice did not reduce the number of viable C. muridarum in the lungs of mice. However, adoptive transfer of the CD4(+) spleen cells isolated from the immunised mice resulted in a significantly reduced bacterial burden. Our results indicate that it is not the pGP3- and pGP4-specific antibodies, but the CD4(+) cells that are responsible for the protective effect of the immune response to plasmid proteins.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tímea Mosolygó
- Department of Medical Microbiology and Immunobiology, University of Szeged, Szeged, Hungary
| | - Agnes M Szabó
- Department of Medical Microbiology and Immunobiology, University of Szeged, Szeged, Hungary
| | - Emese P Balogh
- Department of Medical Microbiology and Immunobiology, University of Szeged, Szeged, Hungary
| | - Ildikó Faludi
- Department of Medical Microbiology and Immunobiology, University of Szeged, Szeged, Hungary
| | - Dezső P Virók
- Institute of Clinical Microbiology, University of Szeged, Szeged, Hungary
| | - Valéria Endrész
- Department of Medical Microbiology and Immunobiology, University of Szeged, Szeged, Hungary
| | - Alíz Samu
- Ist Department of Pathology and Experimental Cancer Research, Semmelweis University, Budapest, Hungary
| | - Tibor Krenács
- Ist Department of Pathology and Experimental Cancer Research, Semmelweis University, Budapest, Hungary
| | - Katalin Burián
- Department of Medical Microbiology and Immunobiology, University of Szeged, Szeged, Hungary.
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