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Roy S, Roy S, Halder S, Jana K, Ukil A. Leishmania exploits host cAMP/EPAC/calcineurin signaling to induce an IL-33-mediated anti-inflammatory environment for the establishment of infection. J Biol Chem 2024; 300:107366. [PMID: 38750790 DOI: 10.1016/j.jbc.2024.107366] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/01/2023] [Revised: 05/03/2024] [Accepted: 05/05/2024] [Indexed: 06/10/2024] Open
Abstract
Host anti-inflammatory responses are critical for the progression of visceral leishmaniasis, and the pleiotropic cytokine interleukin (IL)-33 was found to be upregulated in infection. Here, we documented that IL-33 induction is a consequence of elevated cAMP-mediated exchange protein activated by cAMP (EPAC)/calcineurin-dependent signaling and essential for the sustenance of infection. Leishmania donovani-infected macrophages showed upregulation of IL-33 and its neutralization resulted in decreased parasite survival and increased inflammatory responses. Infection-induced cAMP was involved in IL-33 production and of its downstream effectors PKA and EPAC, only the latter was responsible for elevated IL-33 level. EPAC initiated Rap-dependent phospholipase C activation, which triggered the release of intracellular calcium followed by calcium/calmodulin complex formation. Screening of calmodulin-dependent enzymes affirmed involvement of the phosphatase calcineurin in cAMP/EPAC/calcium/calmodulin signaling-induced IL-33 production and parasite survival. Activated calcineurin ensured nuclear localization of the transcription factors, nuclear factor of activated T cell 1 and hypoxia-inducible factor 1 alpha required for IL-33 transcription, and we further confirmed this by chromatin immunoprecipitation assay. Administering specific inhibitors of nuclear factor of activated T cell 1 and hypoxia-inducible factor 1 alpha in BALB/c mouse model of visceral leishmaniasis decreased liver and spleen parasite burden along with reduction in IL-33 level. Splenocyte supernatants of inhibitor-treated infected mice further documented an increase in tumor necrosis factor alpha and IL-12 level with simultaneous decrease of IL-10, thereby indicating an overall disease-escalating effect of IL-33. Thus, this study demonstrates that cAMP/EPAC/calcineurin signaling is crucial for the activation of IL-33 and in effect creates anti-inflammatory responses, essential for infection.
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Affiliation(s)
- Souravi Roy
- Department of Biochemistry, University of Calcutta, Kolkata, India
| | - Shalini Roy
- Department of Biochemistry, University of Calcutta, Kolkata, India
| | - Satyajit Halder
- Division of Molecular Medicine, Bose Institute, Kolkata, India
| | - Kuladip Jana
- Division of Molecular Medicine, Bose Institute, Kolkata, India
| | - Anindita Ukil
- Department of Biochemistry, University of Calcutta, Kolkata, India.
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Kumar K, Basak R, Rai A, Mukhopadhyay A. GRASP negatively regulates the secretion of the virulence factor gp63 in Leishmania. Mol Microbiol 2024; 121:1063-1078. [PMID: 38558112 DOI: 10.1111/mmi.15255] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/26/2023] [Revised: 03/12/2024] [Accepted: 03/14/2024] [Indexed: 04/04/2024]
Abstract
Metalloprotease-gp63 is a virulence factor secreted by Leishmania. However, secretory pathway in Leishmania is not well defined. Here, we cloned and expressed the GRASP homolog from Leishmania. We found that Leishmania expresses one GRASP homolog of 58 kDa protein (LdGRASP) which localizes in LdRab1- and LPG2-positive Golgi compartment in Leishmania. LdGRASP was found to bind with COPII complex, LdARF1, LdRab1 and LdRab11 indicating its role in ER and Golgi transport in Leishmania. To determine the function of LdGRASP, we generated LdGRASP knockout parasites using CRISPR-Cas9. We found fragmentation of Golgi in Ld:GRASPKO parasites. Our results showed enhanced transport of non-GPI-anchored gp63 to the cell surface leading to higher secretion of this form of gp63 in Ld:GRASPKO parasites in comparison to Ld:WT cells. In contrast, we found that transport of GPI-anchored gp63 to the cell surface is blocked in Ld:GRASPKO parasites and thereby inhibits its secretion. The overexpression of dominant-negative mutant of LdRab1 or LdSar1 in Ld:GRASPKO parasites significantly blocked the secretion of non-GPI-anchored gp63. Interestingly, we found that survival of transgenic parasites overexpressing Ld:GRASP-GFP is significantly compromised in macrophages in comparison to Ld:WT and Ld:GRASPKO parasites. These results demonstrated that LdGRASP differentially regulates Ldgp63 secretory pathway in Leishmania.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kamal Kumar
- Kusuma School of Biological Sciences, Indian Institute of Technology, New Delhi, India
| | - Rituparna Basak
- Kusuma School of Biological Sciences, Indian Institute of Technology, New Delhi, India
| | - Aakansha Rai
- Kusuma School of Biological Sciences, Indian Institute of Technology, New Delhi, India
| | - Amitabha Mukhopadhyay
- Kusuma School of Biological Sciences, Indian Institute of Technology, New Delhi, India
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Dehghani A, Mamizadeh M, Karimi A, Hosseini SA, Siamian D, Shams M, Ghiabi S, Basati G, Abaszadeh A. Multi-epitope vaccine design against leishmaniasis using IFN-γ inducing epitopes from immunodominant gp46 and gp63 proteins. J Genet Eng Biotechnol 2024; 22:100355. [PMID: 38494264 PMCID: PMC10860880 DOI: 10.1016/j.jgeb.2024.100355] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/17/2023] [Accepted: 01/24/2024] [Indexed: 03/19/2024]
Abstract
There is no currently approved human vaccine against leishmaniasis. Utilization of immunogenic antigens and their epitopes capable of enhancing immune responses against leishmaniasis is a crucial step for rational in silico vaccine design. The objective of this study was to generate and evaluate a potential vaccine candidate against leishmaniasis, designed by immunodominant proteins from gp46 and gp63 of Leishmania major, which can stimulate helper T-lymphocytes (HTL) and cytotoxic T-lymphocytes (CTL). For this aim, the IFN-γ-inducing MHC-I and MHC-II binders were predicted for each examined protein (gp46 and gp63) and connected with appropriate linkers, along with an adjuvant (Mycobacterium tuberculosis L7/L12) and a histidine tag. The vaccine's stability, antigenicity, structure, and interaction with the TLR-4 receptor were evaluated in silico. The resulting chimeric vaccine was composed of 344 amino acids and had a molecular weight of 35.64 kDa. Physico-chemical properties indicated that it was thermotolerant, soluble, highly antigenic, and non-allergenic. Predictions of the secondary and tertiary structures were made, and further analyses confirmed that the vaccine construct could interact with the human TLR-4 receptor. Virtual immune simulation demonstrated strong stimulation of T-cell responses, particularly by an increase in IFN-γ, following vaccination. In summary, the in silico data indicated that the vaccine candidate showed high antigenicity in humans. It was also found to trigger significant levels of clearance mechanisms and other components of the cellular immune profile. Nevertheless, further wet experiments are required to properly assess the efficacy of this multi-epitope vaccine candidate against leishmaniasis.
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Affiliation(s)
- Amir Dehghani
- Department of Nursery, Neyshabur University of Medical Sciences, Neyshabur, Iran
| | - Mina Mamizadeh
- Department of Dermatology, School of Medicine, Ilam University of Medical Sciences, Ilam, Iran; Zoonotic Diseases Research Center, Ilam University of Medical Sciences, Ilam, Iran
| | - Atena Karimi
- Department of Biology, Faculty of Basic Sciences, Malayer University, Malayer, Iran
| | - Seyyed Amir Hosseini
- Department of Internal Medicine, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran
| | - Davood Siamian
- Department of Biology, Faculty of Basic Science, Islamic Azad University, Tonekabon Branch, Mazandaran, Iran
| | - Morteza Shams
- Zoonotic Diseases Research Center, Ilam University of Medical Sciences, Ilam, Iran.
| | - Shadan Ghiabi
- Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Science and Research Branch, Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran
| | - Gholam Basati
- Department of Biochemistry, Ilam University of Medical Sciences, Ilam, Iran
| | - Amir Abaszadeh
- Zoonotic Diseases Research Center, Ilam University of Medical Sciences, Ilam, Iran; School of Medicine, Ilam University of Medical Sciences, Ilam, Iran
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Basmenj ER, Arastonejad M, Mamizadeh M, Alem M, KhalatbariLimaki M, Ghiabi S, Khamesipour A, Majidiani H, Shams M, Irannejad H. Engineering and design of promising T-cell-based multi-epitope vaccine candidates against leishmaniasis. Sci Rep 2023; 13:19421. [PMID: 37940672 PMCID: PMC10632461 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-023-46408-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/13/2023] [Accepted: 10/31/2023] [Indexed: 11/10/2023] Open
Abstract
Cutaneous leishmaniasis (CL) is a very common parasitic infection in subtropical areas worldwide. Throughout decades, there have been challenges in vaccine design and vaccination against CL. The present study introduced novel T-cell-based vaccine candidates containing IFN-γ Inducing epitopic fragments from Leishmania major (L. major) glycoprotein 46 (gp46), cathepsin L-like and B-like proteases, histone H2A, glucose-regulated protein 78 (grp78) and stress-inducible protein 1 (STI-1). For this aim, top-ranked human leukocyte antigen (HLA)-specific, IFN-γ Inducing, antigenic, CD4+ and CD8+ binders were highlighted. Four vaccine candidates were generated using different spacers (AAY, GPGPG, GDGDG) and adjuvants (RS-09 peptide, human IFN-γ, a combination of both, Mycobacterium tuberculosis Resuscitation promoting factor E (RpfE)). Based on the immune simulation profile, those with RS-09 peptide (Leish-App) and RpfE (Leish-Rpf) elicited robust immune responses and their tertiary structure were further refined. Also, molecular docking of the selected vaccine models with the human toll-like receptor 4 showed proper interactions, particularly for Leish-App, for which molecular dynamics simulations showed a stable connection with TLR-4. Upon codon optimization, both models were finally ligated into the pET28a( +) vector. In conclusion, two potent multi-epitope vaccine candidates were designed against CL and evaluated using comprehensive in silico methods, while further wet experiments are, also, recommended.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Mahshid Arastonejad
- Department of Human and Molecular Genetics, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA, USA
| | - Mina Mamizadeh
- Department of Dermatology, School of Medicine, Ilam University of Medical Sciences, Ilam, Iran
- Zoonotic Diseases Research Center, Ilam University of Medical Sciences, Ilam, Iran
| | - Mahsa Alem
- Department of Microbiology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Urmia University, Urmia, Iran
| | - Mahdi KhalatbariLimaki
- Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, School of Pharmacy, Guilan University of Medical Sciences, Rasht, Iran
| | - Shadan Ghiabi
- Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Science and Research Branch, Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran
| | - Ali Khamesipour
- Center for Research and Training in Skin Diseases and Leprosy, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, 14155-6383, Iran
| | - Hamidreza Majidiani
- Healthy Aging Research Centre, Neyshabur University of Medical Sciences, Neyshabur, Iran.
- Department of Basic Medical Sciences, Neyshabur University of Medical Sciences, Neyshabur, Iran.
| | - Morteza Shams
- Zoonotic Diseases Research Center, Ilam University of Medical Sciences, Ilam, Iran.
| | - Hamid Irannejad
- Department of Medicinal Chemistry, Faculty of Pharmacy, Mazandaran University of Medical Sciences, Sari, Iran
- Pharmaceutical Sciences Research Center, Mazandaran University of Medical Sciences, Sari, Iran
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Ojha R, Chand K, Vellingiri B, Prajapati VK. Cloning, expression and in vitro validation of chimeric multi epitope vaccine candidate against visceral leishmaniasis infection. Life Sci 2023; 323:121689. [PMID: 37044174 DOI: 10.1016/j.lfs.2023.121689] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/30/2022] [Revised: 02/03/2023] [Accepted: 04/06/2023] [Indexed: 04/14/2023]
Abstract
Visceral Leishmaniasis or Kala-Azar is one of the most severe and deadly neglected tropical disease caused by the Leishmania parasite. A few number of vaccines are going through different phases in clinical trial but failing of these vaccines in successive phase trial or less efficacy, urge to develop highly immunogenic and cost-effective treatment to get rid of deadly VL. This study focuses on the development of more potent vaccine candidate against VL. The recombinant vaccine candidate LeiSp was expressed in Pichia pastoris, followed by purification and characterization. The purified protein was also tested for any post-translation modification, which favors being a potent immunogenic candidate. Further, the expression modulation of different pro-inflammatory and anti-inflammatory cytokines was evaluated in THP1 cell lines. A significant upregulation in the expression of pro-inflammatory cytokines while no significant changes were observed in the expression of anti-inflammatory cytokines. The impact of recombinant vaccine protein candidates in infected conditions were determined. Here, upon treatment with chimeric vaccine protein candidate, we observed a considerable recovery in the expression level of pro-inflammatory cytokines, which were downregulated upon infection alone. In addition to this, we found a significant decrease in the expression of anti-inflammatory cytokines, which were upregulated during infection alone. We further validated our findings in infected hPBMCs and observed similar expression modulation of pro-inflammatory and anti-inflammatory cytokines with and without treatment. Thus, the present study indicates that the chimeric LeiSp protein which was designed using bioinformatics approaches shows a potential inductive efficacy for pro-inflammatory cytokines in Leishmania-infected cells.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rupal Ojha
- Department of Biochemistry, School of Life Sciences, Central University of Rajasthan, Ajmer 305817, Rajasthan, India
| | - Kailash Chand
- Dr. Reddy's Institute of Life Sciences, Hyderabad 500046, Telangana, India
| | - Balachandar Vellingiri
- Department of Zoology, School of Basic Sciences, Central University of Punjab, Bathinda, India
| | - Vijay Kumar Prajapati
- Department of Biochemistry, School of Life Sciences, Central University of Rajasthan, Ajmer 305817, Rajasthan, India; Department of Biochemistry, School of Basic Sciences, Central University of Punjab, Bathinda, India.
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Validating Immunomodulatory Responses of r- LdODC Protein and Its Derived HLA-DRB1 Restricted Epitopes against Visceral Leishmaniasis in BALB/c Mice. Pathogens 2022; 12:pathogens12010016. [PMID: 36678364 PMCID: PMC9867430 DOI: 10.3390/pathogens12010016] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/30/2022] [Revised: 12/20/2022] [Accepted: 12/21/2022] [Indexed: 12/24/2022] Open
Abstract
Vaccination is considered the most appropriate way to control visceral leishmaniasis (VL). With this background, the r-LdODC protein as well as its derived HLA-DRB1-restricted synthetic peptides (P1: RLMPSAHAI, P2: LLDQYQIHL, P3: GLYHSFNCI, P4: AVLEVLSAL, and P5: RLPASPAAL) were validated in BALB/c mice against visceral leishmaniasis. The study was initiated by immunization of the r-LdODC protein as well as its derived peptides cocktail with adjuvants (r-CD2 and MPL-A) in different mice groups, separately. Splenocytes isolated from the challenged and differentially immunized mice group exhibited significantly higher IFN-γ secretion, which was evidenced by the increase in the expression profile of intracellular CD4+IFN-γ T cells. However, the IL-10 secretion did not show a significant increase against the protein and peptide cocktail. Subsequently, the study confirmed the ability of peptides as immunoprophylactic agents, as the IE-I/AD-I molecule overexpressed on monocytes and macrophages of the challenged mice group. The parasitic load in macrophages of the protein and peptides cocktail immunized mice groups, and T cell proliferation rate, further established immunoprophylactic efficacy of the r-LdODC protein and peptide cocktail. This study suggests that the r-LdODC protein, as well as its derived HLA-DRB1-restricted synthetic peptides, have immunoprophylactic potential and can activate other immune cells' functions towards protection against visceral leishmaniasis. However, a detailed study in a humanized mice model can explore its potential as a vaccine candidate.
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Multi-antigen vaccination with LPD nanoparticles containing rgp63 and rLmaC1N proteins induced effective immune response against leishmaniasis in animal model. J Drug Deliv Sci Technol 2021. [DOI: 10.1016/j.jddst.2021.102633] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/18/2022]
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Phuphisut O, Nitatsukprasert C, Pathawong N, Jaichapor B, Pongsiri A, Adisakwattana P, Ponlawat A. Sand fly identification and screening for Leishmania spp. in six provinces of Thailand. Parasit Vectors 2021; 14:352. [PMID: 34217359 PMCID: PMC8254935 DOI: 10.1186/s13071-021-04856-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/27/2021] [Accepted: 06/20/2021] [Indexed: 11/11/2022] Open
Abstract
Background Phlebotomine sand flies are vectors of Leishmania spp. At least 27 species of sand flies have been recorded in Thailand. Although human leishmaniasis cases in Thailand are mainly imported, autochthonous leishmaniasis has been increasingly reported in several regions of the country since 1999. Few studies have detected Leishmania infection in wild-caught sand flies, although these studies were carried out only in those areas reporting human leishmaniasis cases. The aim of this study was therefore to identity sand fly species and to investigate Leishmania infection across six provinces of Thailand. Methods Species of wild-caught sand flies were initially identified based on morphological characters. However, problems identifying cryptic species complexes necessitated molecular identification using DNA barcoding in parallel with identification based on morphological characters. The wild-caught sand flies were pooled and the DNA isolated prior to the detection of Leishmania infection by a TaqMan real-time PCR assay. Results A total of 4498 sand flies (1158 males and 3340 females) were caught by trapping in six provinces in four regions of Thailand. The sand flies were morphologically classified into eight species belonging to three genera (Sergentomyia, Phlebotomus and Idiophlebotomus). Sergentomyia iyengari was found at all collection sites and was the dominant species at most of these, followed in frequency by Sergentomyia barraudi and Phlebotomus stantoni, respectively. DNA barcodes generated from 68 sand flies allowed sorting into 14 distinct species with 25 operational taxonomic units, indicating a higher diversity (by 75%) than that based on morphological identification. Twelve barcoding sequences could not be assigned to any species for which cytochrome c oxidase subunit I sequences are available. All tested sand flies were negative for Leishmania DNA. Conclusions Our results confirm the presence of several sand fly species in different provinces of Thailand, highlighting the importance of using DNA barcoding as a tool to study sand fly species diversity. While all female sand flies tested in this study were negative for Leishmania, the circulation of Leishmania spp. in the investigated areas cannot be ruled out. Graphical abstract ![]()
Supplementary Information The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s13071-021-04856-6.
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Affiliation(s)
- Orawan Phuphisut
- Department of Helminthology, Faculty of Tropical Medicine, Mahidol University, Bangkok, 10400, Thailand
| | - Chanyapat Nitatsukprasert
- Vector Biology and Control Section, Department of Entomology, Armed Forces Research Institute of Medical Sciences (AFRIMS), Bangkok, 10400, Thailand
| | - Nattaphol Pathawong
- Vector Biology and Control Section, Department of Entomology, Armed Forces Research Institute of Medical Sciences (AFRIMS), Bangkok, 10400, Thailand
| | - Boonsong Jaichapor
- Vector Biology and Control Section, Department of Entomology, Armed Forces Research Institute of Medical Sciences (AFRIMS), Bangkok, 10400, Thailand
| | - Arissara Pongsiri
- Vector Biology and Control Section, Department of Entomology, Armed Forces Research Institute of Medical Sciences (AFRIMS), Bangkok, 10400, Thailand
| | - Poom Adisakwattana
- Department of Helminthology, Faculty of Tropical Medicine, Mahidol University, Bangkok, 10400, Thailand.
| | - Alongkot Ponlawat
- Vector Biology and Control Section, Department of Entomology, Armed Forces Research Institute of Medical Sciences (AFRIMS), Bangkok, 10400, Thailand.
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Namdar Ahmadabad H, Shafiei R, Hatam GR, Zolfaghari Emameh R, Aspatwar A. Cytokine profile and nitric oxide levels in peritoneal macrophages of BALB/c mice exposed to the fucose-mannose ligand of Leishmania infantum combined with glycyrrhizin. Parasit Vectors 2020; 13:363. [PMID: 32690108 PMCID: PMC7370265 DOI: 10.1186/s13071-020-04243-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/07/2020] [Accepted: 07/15/2020] [Indexed: 12/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Background The fucose-mannose ligand (FML) of Leishmania infantum is a complex glycoprotein which does not elicit adequate immunogenicity in humans. In recent years, adjuvant compounds derived from plants have been used for improving the immunogenicity of vaccines. Glycyrrhizin (GL) is a natural triterpenoid saponin that has known immunomodulatory activities. In the present study, we investigated the effects of co-treatment with FML and GL on the production of cytokines and nitric oxide (NO) by macrophages, in vitro. Methods Lipopolysaccharide (LPS) stimulated murine peritoneal macrophages were treated with FML (5 μg/ml) of L. infantum and various concentrations of GL (1 μg/ml, 10 μg/ml and 20 μg/ml). After 48 h of treatment, cell culture supernatants were recovered and the levels of TNF-α, IL-10, IL-12p70 and IP-10 were measured by sandwich ELISA and NO concentration by Griess reaction. Results Our results indicate that the treatment of activated macrophages with FML plus GL leads to enhanced production of NO, TNF-α and IL-12p70, and reduction of IL-10 levels in comparison with FML treatment alone. Conclusions Therefore, we concluded that GL can improve the immunostimulatory effect of FML on macrophages and leads to their polarization towards an M1-like phenotype. ![]()
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Affiliation(s)
- Hasan Namdar Ahmadabad
- Natural Products & Medicinal Plants Research Center, North Khorasan University of Medical Sciences, Bojnurd, Iran
| | - Reza Shafiei
- Vector-borne Diseases Research Center, North Khorasan University of Medical Sciences, Bojnurd, Iran.
| | - Gholam Reza Hatam
- Department of Parasitology and Mycology, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran
| | - Reza Zolfaghari Emameh
- Department of Energy and Environmental Biotechnology, National Institute of Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology (NIGEB), 14965/161, Tehran, Iran
| | - Ashok Aspatwar
- Faculty of Medicine and Health Technology, Tampere University, 33014, Tampere, Finland
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Pandey SC, Kumar A, Samant M. Genetically modified live attenuated vaccine: A potential strategy to combat visceral leishmaniasis. Parasite Immunol 2020; 42:e12732. [PMID: 32418227 DOI: 10.1111/pim.12732] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/23/2019] [Revised: 05/11/2020] [Accepted: 05/11/2020] [Indexed: 12/11/2022]
Abstract
Visceral leishmaniasis (VL) is caused by a protozoan parasite Leishmania donovani mainly influencing the population of tropical and subtropical regions across the globe. The arsenal of drugs available is limited, and prolonged use of such drugs makes parasite to become resistant. Therefore, it is very imperative to develop a safe, cost-effective and inexpensive vaccine against VL. Although in recent years, many strategies have been pursued by researchers, so far only some of the vaccine candidates reached for clinical trial and more than half of them are still in pipeline. There is now a broad consent among Leishmania researchers that the perseverance of parasite is very essential for eliciting a protective immune response and may perhaps be attained by live attenuated parasite vaccination. For making a live attenuated parasite, it is very essential to ensure that the parasite is deficient of virulence and should further study genetically modified parasites to perceive the mechanism of pathogenesis. So it is believed that in the near future, a complete understanding of the Leishmania genome will explore clear strategies to discover a novel vaccine. This review describes the need for a genetically modified live attenuated vaccine against VL, and obstacles associated with its development.
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Affiliation(s)
- Satish Chandra Pandey
- Cell and Molecular biology laboratory, Department of Zoology, Kumaun University, Almora, India.,Department of Biotechnology, Kumaun University, Nainital, India
| | - Awanish Kumar
- Department of Biotechnology, National Institute of Technology, Raipur, India
| | - Mukesh Samant
- Cell and Molecular biology laboratory, Department of Zoology, Kumaun University, Almora, India
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Zutshi S, Kumar S, Sarode A, Roy S, Sarkar A, Saha B. Leishmania major adenylate kinase immunization offers partial protection to a susceptible host. Parasite Immunol 2020; 42:e12688. [PMID: 31797390 DOI: 10.1111/pim.12688] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/19/2019] [Revised: 11/08/2019] [Accepted: 11/28/2019] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Abstract
Leishmania major causes mild-to-severe cutaneous lesions resulting in significant disfigurations, if untreated. The drugs are toxic, and drug-resistance parasites are emerging. Therefore, a prophylactic vaccination is an urgent need. As no vaccine is available, we compared the genes expressed by virulent and avirulent parasites. We identify L major adenylate kinase (AdeK) as a probable vaccine candidate after a series of experimentations. We cloned the gene in mammalian pcDNA6/HisA and pet28a+ vector for in vivo expression following immunization and in vitro protein expression for booster, respectively. We observed that immunization of susceptible BALB/c mice with AdeK resulted in significant protection against L major challenge infection. The protection was accompanied by increased IFN-γ producing lymphocytes and reduced IL-4, IL-17 and IL-10 secreting central and effector Th2, Th17 and Treg memory cells, respectively. These observations indicate L major AdeK as a potential vaccine candidate.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Sunil Kumar
- National Centre for Cell Science, Pune, India
| | | | | | - Arup Sarkar
- Trident Academy of Creative Technology, Bhubaneswar, India
| | - Bhaskar Saha
- National Centre for Cell Science, Pune, India.,Trident Academy of Creative Technology, Bhubaneswar, India
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12
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A new multi-epitope peptide vaccine induces immune responses and protection against Leishmania infantum in BALB/c mice. Med Microbiol Immunol 2019; 209:69-79. [PMID: 31696313 DOI: 10.1007/s00430-019-00640-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/03/2019] [Accepted: 10/15/2019] [Indexed: 02/06/2023]
Abstract
Visceral leishmaniasis (VL) is a tropical and subtropical disease which is endemic in more than eighty countries around the world. Leishmania infantum is one of the main causative agents of VL disease. Currently, there is no approved-to-market vaccine for VL therapy. In this study, we evaluated cellular and humoral immune responses induced by our newly designed multi-epitope vaccine in BALB/c mice. Four antigenic proteins, including histone H1, sterol 24-c-methyltransferase (SMT), Leishmania-specific hypothetical protein (LiHy), and Leishmania-specific antigenic protein (LSAP) were chosen for the prediction of potential immunodominant epitopes. Moreover, to enhance vaccine immunogenicity, two toll-like receptors 4 (TLR4) agonists, resuscitation-promoting factors of Mycobacterium tuberculosis (RpfE and RpfB), were employed as the built-in adjuvants. Immunization with the designed multi-epitope vaccine elicited a robust Th1-type immune response, compared to other groups, as shown by increased levels of IL-2, IFN-γ, TNF-α, and IgG2a. Furthermore, a significant decrease was observed in Th-2-type-related cytokines such as IL-4 in immunized mice. The designed construct also induced a significant reduction in parasite load (p < 0.0001), conferring protection against L. infantum challenge. This study could be promising in gaining insight towards the potential of peptide epitope-based vaccines as effective protective approaches against Leishmania species.
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Topno RK, Shankar V, Dikhit MR, Madhukar M, Pandey K, Das VNR, Kumar M, Kumar B, Agrawal K, Siddiqui NA, Sahoo GC, Kumar R, Singh AK, Kumar R, Singh D, Das P. Noninvasive Sweat-Based Diagnosis of Visceral Leishmaniasis and Post Kala-Azar Dermal Leishmaniasis. Am J Trop Med Hyg 2018; 99:1162-1164. [PMID: 30203740 PMCID: PMC6221248 DOI: 10.4269/ajtmh.17-0749] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/27/2017] [Accepted: 06/28/2018] [Indexed: 01/16/2023] Open
Abstract
The diagnosis of visceral leishmaniasis (VL) is one of the foremost barriers in the control of this disease, as demonstration of the parasite by splenic/bone marrow aspiration is relatively difficult and requires expertise and laboratory support. The aim of the present study was to find a noninvasive diagnostic approach using the existing recombinant kinesine-39 (rK-39) immunochromatographic nitrocellulose strips test (ICT) with a human sweat specimen for the diagnosis of VL. The investigation was carried out on specimens (blood, sweat, and urine) collected from 58 confirmed VL, 50 confirmed post kala-azar dermal leishmaniasis (PKDL), 36 healthy control, and 35 patients from other diseases. The data obtained from this study reveal that 96.6% clinically confirmed active VL participants were found to be positive when tested against a sweat specimen. Interestingly, the scenario was similar when tested against a blood specimen (96.6% positive by rK-39). Moreover, a test of both sweats and blood specimens from 50 PKDL participants resulted in 100% positivity, whereas no healthy control participants were found to be rK-39 positive. The sensitivity of the rK-39 ICT in sweat specimen was 94.7%, whereas the specificity was 100% in healthy controls from endemic, nonendemic, and other infectious diseases, respectively. No difference was observed in sweat specimen of VL and PKDL cases which signifies its reliability. However, further evaluation of this method on a larger scale could enhance the reliability of the proposed model so that it could be used efficiently in VL management and eradication.
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Affiliation(s)
- Roshan Kamal Topno
- Department of Epidemiology, Rajendra Memorial Research Institute of Medical Sciences (ICMR), Patna, India
| | - Vikas Shankar
- Department of Skin and VD, Nalanda Medical College and Hospital, Patna, India
| | - Manas Ranjan Dikhit
- Department of Bioinformatics, Rajendra Memorial Research Institute of Medical Sciences (ICMR), Patna, India
| | - Major Madhukar
- Department of Clinical Medicine, Rajendra Memorial Research Institute of Medical Sciences (ICMR), Patna, India
| | - Krishna Pandey
- Department of Clinical Medicine, Rajendra Memorial Research Institute of Medical Sciences (ICMR), Patna, India
| | - V. N. R. Das
- Department of Clinical Medicine, Rajendra Memorial Research Institute of Medical Sciences (ICMR), Patna, India
| | - Maneesh Kumar
- Department of Virology, Rajendra Memorial Research Institute of Medical Sciences (ICMR), Patna, India
| | - Bipin Kumar
- Department of Clinical Medicine, Rajendra Memorial Research Institute of Medical Sciences (ICMR), Patna, India
| | - Kanhaiya Agrawal
- Department of Clinical Medicine, Rajendra Memorial Research Institute of Medical Sciences (ICMR), Patna, India
| | - Niyamat Ali Siddiqui
- Department of Biostatistics, Rajendra Memorial Research Institute of Medical Sciences (ICMR), Patna, India
| | - Ganesh Chandra Sahoo
- Department of Bioinformatics, Rajendra Memorial Research Institute of Medical Sciences (ICMR), Patna, India
| | - Rishikesh Kumar
- Department of Virology, Rajendra Memorial Research Institute of Medical Sciences (ICMR), Patna, India
| | - Ashish Kumar Singh
- Department of Immunology, Rajendra Memorial Research Institute of Medical Sciences (ICMR), Patna, India
| | - Rajeev Kumar
- Department of Community Medicine, Nalanda Medical College and Hospital, Patna, India
| | - Dharmendra Singh
- Department of Biochemistry, National JALMA institute for Leprosy and other Mycobacterial Disease (ICMR), Agra, India
| | - Pradeep Das
- Department of Molecular Biology, Rajendra Memorial Research Institute of Medical Sciences (ICMR), Patna, India
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Vijayakumar S, Das P. Recent progress in drug targets and inhibitors towards combating leishmaniasis. Acta Trop 2018; 181:95-104. [PMID: 29452111 DOI: 10.1016/j.actatropica.2018.02.010] [Citation(s) in RCA: 43] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/22/2017] [Revised: 01/24/2018] [Accepted: 02/11/2018] [Indexed: 12/22/2022]
Abstract
Lesihmaniasis is one of the major neglected tropical disease caused by the parasite of the genus Leishmania. The disease has more than one clinical forms and the visceral form is considered fatal. With the lack of potential vaccine, chemotherapy is the major treatment source considered for the control of the disease in the infected people. Drugs including amphotericin B and miltefosine are widely used for the treatment, however, development of resistance by the parasite towards the administered drug and high-toxicity of the drug are of major concern. Hence, more attention has been shown on identifying new targets, effective inhibitors, and better drug delivery system against the disease. This review deals with recent studies on drug targets and exploring their essentiality for the survival of Leishmania. Further, new inhibitors for those targets, novel anti-leishmanial peptides and vaccines against leishmaniasis were discussed. We believe that this pool of information will ease the researchers to gain knowledge and help in choosing right targets and design of new inhibitors against Leishmaniasis.
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Grimaldi G, Teva A, dos-Santos CB, Santos FN, Pinto IDS, Fux B, Leite GR, Falqueto A. Field trial of efficacy of the Leish-tec® vaccine against canine leishmaniasis caused by Leishmania infantum in an endemic area with high transmission rates. PLoS One 2017; 12:e0185438. [PMID: 28953944 PMCID: PMC5617193 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0185438] [Citation(s) in RCA: 41] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/04/2017] [Accepted: 09/12/2017] [Indexed: 01/17/2023] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Because domestic dogs are reservoir hosts for visceral leishmaniasis (VL) in Brazil, one of the approaches used to reduce human disease incidence is to cull infected dogs. However, the results of controlled intervention trials based on serological screening of dogs and killing of seropositive animals are equivocal. A prophylactic vaccine to protect dogs from being infectious to the sand fly vector could be an effective strategy to provide sustained control. Here, we investigated whether a currently licensed commercial subunit rA2 protein-saponin vaccine (Leish-tec®) had an additional effect to dog culling on reducing the canine infectious populations. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS This prospective study was conducted in an L. infantum highly endemic area of southeast Brazil. At the onset of the intervention, all of the eligible dogs received through subcutaneous route a three-dose vaccine course at 21-day intervals and a booster on month 12. For the purpose of comparison, newly recruited healthy dogs were included as the exposed control group. To ascertain vaccine-induced protection, dogs were screened on clinical and serological criteria every 6 months for a 2-year follow-up period. Antibody-based tests and histopathological examination of post-mortem tissue specimens from euthanized animals were used as a marker of infection. The standardized vaccine regime, apart from being safe, was immunogenic as immunized animals responded with a pronounced production of anti-A2-specific IgG antibodies. It should be noted the mean seroconversion time for infection obtained among immunized exposed dogs (~ 18 months), which was twice as high as that for unvaccinated ones (~ 9 months). After two transmission cycles completed, the cumulative incidence of infection did differ significantly (P = 0.016) between the vaccinated (27%) and unvaccinated (42%) dogs. However, the expected efficacy for the vaccine in inducing clinical protection was not evident since 43% of vaccine recipients developed disease over time. Our estimates also indicated that immunoprophylaxis by Leish-tec® vaccine in addition to dog culling might not have an impact on bringing down the incidence of canine infection with L. infantum in areas of high transmission rates. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE Leish-tec® as a prophylactic vaccine showed promise but needs to be further optimized to be effective in dogs under field conditions, and thereby positively impacts human incidence.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Antonio Teva
- Escola Nacional de Saúde Pública, Fiocruz, Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
| | - Claudiney B. dos-Santos
- Centro de Ciências da Saúde, Universidade Federal do Espírito Santos, Vitória, Espírito Santo, Brazil
| | | | - Israel de-Souza Pinto
- Centro de Ciências da Saúde, Universidade Federal do Espírito Santos, Vitória, Espírito Santo, Brazil
| | - Blima Fux
- Centro de Ciências da Saúde, Universidade Federal do Espírito Santos, Vitória, Espírito Santo, Brazil
| | - Gustavo Rocha Leite
- Centro de Ciências da Saúde, Universidade Federal do Espírito Santos, Vitória, Espírito Santo, Brazil
| | - Aloísio Falqueto
- Centro de Ciências da Saúde, Universidade Federal do Espírito Santos, Vitória, Espírito Santo, Brazil
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Bagirova M, Allahverdiyev AM, Abamor ES, Ullah I, Cosar G, Aydogdu M, Senturk H, Ergenoglu B. Overview of dendritic cell-based vaccine development for leishmaniasis. Parasite Immunol 2017; 38:651-662. [PMID: 27591404 DOI: 10.1111/pim.12360] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/18/2016] [Accepted: 07/20/2016] [Indexed: 12/24/2022]
Abstract
Leishmaniasis is one of the most serious vector-borne diseases in the world and is distributed over 98 countries. It is estimated that 350 million people are at risk for leishmaniasis. There are three different generation of vaccines that have been developed to provide immunity and protection against leishmaniasis. However, their use has been limited due to undesired side effects. These vaccines have also failed to provide effective and reliable protection and, as such, currently, there is no safe and effective vaccine for leishmaniasis. Dendritic cells (DCs) are a unique population of cells that come from bone marrow and become specialized to take up, process and present antigens to helper T cells in a mechanism similar to macrophages. By considering these significant features, DCs stimulated with different kinds of Leishmania antigens have been used in recent vaccine studies for leishmaniasis with promising results so far. In this review, we aim to review and combine the latest studies about this issue after defining potential problems in vaccine development for leishmaniasis and considering the importance of DCs in the immunopathogenesis of the disease.
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Affiliation(s)
- M Bagirova
- Bioengineering Department, Yildiz Technical University, Esenler, Istanbul, Turkey
| | - A M Allahverdiyev
- Bioengineering Department, Yildiz Technical University, Esenler, Istanbul, Turkey.
| | - E S Abamor
- Bioengineering Department, Yildiz Technical University, Esenler, Istanbul, Turkey
| | - I Ullah
- Department of Biotechnology, Quaid-i-Azam University, Islamabad, Pakistan
| | - G Cosar
- Bioengineering Department, Yildiz Technical University, Esenler, Istanbul, Turkey
| | - M Aydogdu
- Bioengineering Department, Yildiz Technical University, Esenler, Istanbul, Turkey
| | - H Senturk
- Bioengineering Department, Yildiz Technical University, Esenler, Istanbul, Turkey
| | - B Ergenoglu
- Bioengineering Department, Yildiz Technical University, Esenler, Istanbul, Turkey
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A third generation vaccine for human visceral leishmaniasis and post kala azar dermal leishmaniasis: First-in-human trial of ChAd63-KH. PLoS Negl Trop Dis 2017; 11:e0005527. [PMID: 28498840 PMCID: PMC5443534 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pntd.0005527] [Citation(s) in RCA: 87] [Impact Index Per Article: 12.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/25/2016] [Revised: 05/24/2017] [Accepted: 03/27/2017] [Indexed: 12/31/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Visceral leishmaniasis (VL or kala azar) is the most serious form of human leishmaniasis, responsible for over 20,000 deaths annually, and post kala azar dermal leishmaniasis (PKDL) is a stigmatizing skin condition that often occurs in patients after successful treatment for VL. Lack of effective or appropriately targeted cell mediated immunity, including CD8+ T cell responses, underlies the progression of VL and progression to PKDL, and can limit the therapeutic efficacy of anti-leishmanial drugs. Hence, in addition to the need for prophylactic vaccines against leishmaniasis, the development of therapeutic vaccines for use alone or in combined immuno-chemotherapy has been identified as an unmet clinical need. Here, we report the first clinical trial of a third-generation leishmaniasis vaccine, developed intentionally to induce Leishmania-specific CD8+ T cells. METHODS We conducted a first-in-human dose escalation Phase I trial in 20 healthy volunteers to assess the safety, tolerability and immunogenicity of a prime-only adenoviral vaccine for human VL and PKDL. ChAd63-KH is a replication defective simian adenovirus expressing a novel synthetic gene (KH) encoding two Leishmania proteins KMP-11 and HASPB. Uniquely, the latter was engineered to reflect repeat domain polymorphisms and arrangements identified from clinical isolates. We monitored innate immune responses by whole blood RNA-Seq and antigen specific CD8+ T cell responses by IFNγ ELISPOT and intracellular flow cytometry. FINDINGS ChAd63-KH was safe at intramuscular doses of 1x1010 and 7.5x1010 vp. Whole blood transcriptomic profiling indicated that ChAd63-KH induced innate immune responses characterized by an interferon signature and the presence of activated dendritic cells. Broad and quantitatively robust CD8+ T cell responses were induced by vaccination in 100% (20/20) of vaccinated subjects. CONCLUSION The results of this study support the further development of ChAd63-KH as a novel third generation vaccine for VL and PKDL. TRIAL REGISTRATION This clinical trial (LEISH1) was registered at EudraCT (2012-005596-14) and ISRCTN (07766359).
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18
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Agallou M, Margaroni M, Athanasiou E, Toubanaki DK, Kontonikola K, Karidi K, Kammona O, Kiparissides C, Karagouni E. Identification of BALB/c Immune Markers Correlated with a Partial Protection to Leishmania infantum after Vaccination with a Rationally Designed Multi-epitope Cysteine Protease A Peptide-Based Nanovaccine. PLoS Negl Trop Dis 2017; 11:e0005311. [PMID: 28114333 PMCID: PMC5295723 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pntd.0005311] [Citation(s) in RCA: 32] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/24/2016] [Revised: 02/07/2017] [Accepted: 01/09/2017] [Indexed: 12/16/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Through their increased potential to be engaged and processed by dendritic cells (DCs), nanovaccines consisting of Poly(D,L-lactic-co-glycolic acid) (PLGA) nanoparticles (NPs) loaded with both antigenic moieties and adjuvants are attractive candidates for triggering specific defense mechanisms against intracellular pathogens. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the immunogenicity and prophylactic potential of a rationally designed multi-epitope peptide of Leishmania Cysteine Protease A (CPA160-189) co-encapsulated with Monophosphoryl lipid A (MPLA) in PLGA NPs against L. infantum in BALB/c mice and identify immune markers correlated with protective responses. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS The DCs phenotypic and functional features exposed to soluble (CPA160-189, CPA160-189+MPLA) or encapsulated in PLGA NPs forms of peptide and adjuvant (PLGA-MPLA, PLGA-CPA160-189, PLGA-CPA160-189+MPLA) was firstly determined using BALB/c bone marrow-derived DCs. The most potent signatures of DCs maturation were obtained with the PLGA-CPA160-189+MPLA NPs. Subcutaneous administration of PLGA-CPA160-189+MPLA NPs in BALB/c mice induced specific anti-CPA160-189 cellular and humoral immune responses characterized by T cells producing high amounts of IL-2, IFN-γ and TNFα and IgG1/IgG2a antibodies. When these mice were challenged with 2x107 stationary phase L. infantum promastigotes, they displayed significant reduced hepatic (48%) and splenic (90%) parasite load at 1 month post-challenge. This protective phenotype was accompanied by a strong spleen lymphoproliferative response and high levels of IL-2, IFN-γ and TNFα versus low IL-4 and IL-10 secretion. Although, at 4 months post-challenge, the reduced parasite load was preserved in the liver (61%), an increase was detected in the spleen (30%), indicating a partial vaccine-induced protection. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE This study provide a basis for the development of peptide-based nanovaccines against leishmaniasis, since it reveals that vaccination with well-defined Leishmania MHC-restricted epitopes extracted from various immunogenic proteins co-encapsulated with the proper adjuvant or/and phlebotomine fly saliva multi-epitope peptides into clinically compatible PLGA NPs could be a promising approach for the induction of a strong and sustainable protective immunity.
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Affiliation(s)
- Maria Agallou
- Department of Microbiology, Hellenic Pasteur Institute, Athens, Greece
| | - Maritsa Margaroni
- Department of Microbiology, Hellenic Pasteur Institute, Athens, Greece
| | - Evita Athanasiou
- Department of Microbiology, Hellenic Pasteur Institute, Athens, Greece
| | | | - Katerina Kontonikola
- Chemical Process & Energy Resources Institute, Centre for Research and Technology Hellas, Thessaloniki, Greece
| | - Konstantina Karidi
- Chemical Process & Energy Resources Institute, Centre for Research and Technology Hellas, Thessaloniki, Greece
| | - Olga Kammona
- Chemical Process & Energy Resources Institute, Centre for Research and Technology Hellas, Thessaloniki, Greece
| | - Costas Kiparissides
- Chemical Process & Energy Resources Institute, Centre for Research and Technology Hellas, Thessaloniki, Greece
- Department of Chemical Engineering, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Thessaloniki, Greece
| | - Evdokia Karagouni
- Department of Microbiology, Hellenic Pasteur Institute, Athens, Greece
- * E-mail:
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Mendonça SCF. Differences in immune responses against Leishmania induced by infection and by immunization with killed parasite antigen: implications for vaccine discovery. Parasit Vectors 2016; 9:492. [PMID: 27600664 PMCID: PMC5013623 DOI: 10.1186/s13071-016-1777-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 24] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/31/2015] [Accepted: 08/26/2016] [Indexed: 01/06/2023] Open
Abstract
The leishmaniases are a group of diseases caused by different species of the protozoan genus Leishmania and transmitted by sand fly vectors. They are a major public health problem in almost all continents. There is no effective control of leishmaniasis and its geographical distribution is expanding in many countries. Great effort has been made by many scientists to develop a vaccine against leishmaniasis, but, so far, there is still no effective vaccine against the disease. The only way to generate protective immunity against leishmaniasis in humans is leishmanization, consisting of the inoculation of live virulent Leishmania as a means to acquire long-lasting immunity against subsequent infections. At present, all that we know about human immune responses to Leishmania induced by immunization with killed parasite antigens came from studies with first generation candidate vaccines (killed promastigote extracts). In the few occasions that the T cell-mediated immune responses to Leishmania induced by infection and immunization with killed parasite antigens were compared, important differences were found both in humans and in animals. This review discusses these differences and their relevance to the development of a vaccine against leishmaniasis, the major problems involved in this task, the recent prospects for the selection of candidate antigens and the use of attenuated Leishmania as live vaccines.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sergio C F Mendonça
- Laboratório de Imunoparasitologia, Instituto Oswaldo Cruz, Fundação Oswaldo Cruz, Av. 4365 - Manguinhos, 21040-360, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
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Paik D, Das P, Naskar K, Pramanik PK, Chakraborti T. Protective inflammatory response against visceral leishmaniasis with potato tuber extract: A new approach of successful therapy. Biomed Pharmacother 2016; 83:1295-1302. [PMID: 27567589 DOI: 10.1016/j.biopha.2016.08.046] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/06/2016] [Revised: 07/18/2016] [Accepted: 08/05/2016] [Indexed: 10/21/2022] Open
Abstract
The increasing number of drug resistance issue of Leishmania donovani strain to common drugs compels to develop new therapeutics against leishmaniasis with minimal toxicity. In this regard, bioactive phytocomponents may lead to the discovery of new medicines with appropriate efficiency. The important roles of Leishmania proteases in the virulence of Leishmania parasite make them very hopeful targets for the improvement of current remedial of leishmaniasis. As part of a hunt for new drugs, we have evaluated in vivo anti-leishmanial activity of serine protease inhibitor rich fraction (PTEx), isolated by sodium bisulfite extraction from potato tuber. The amastigote load of 25mg/kg body weight/day treated BALB/c mice showed 86.9% decrease in liver and 88.7% in case of spleen. This anti-leishmanial effect was also supported by PTEx induced immunomodulatory activity like acute formation of ROS and prolonged NO generation. The Th1/Th2 cytokine balance in splenocytes of PTEx treated animals was estimated and evaluated by ELISA assay as well as by mRNA expression using RT-PCR. Furthermore, significant survival rate (80%) was observed in PTEx treated hamsters. Thus, from the present observations we could accentuate the potential of PTEx to be employed as a new therapeutics from natural source against L. donovani. This might also provide a novel perception of natural serine protease inhibitor from potato tuber as an alternate approach for the treatment of visceral leishmaniasis.
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Affiliation(s)
- Dibyendu Paik
- Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics, University of Kalyani, Kalyani 741235, West Bengal, India
| | - Partha Das
- Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics, University of Kalyani, Kalyani 741235, West Bengal, India
| | - Kshudiram Naskar
- Infectious Disease and Immunology Division, Indian Institute of Chemical Biology, Kolkata 700032, India
| | - Pijush Kanti Pramanik
- Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics, University of Kalyani, Kalyani 741235, West Bengal, India
| | - Tapati Chakraborti
- Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics, University of Kalyani, Kalyani 741235, West Bengal, India.
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Petitdidier E, Pagniez J, Papierok G, Vincendeau P, Lemesre JL, Bras-Gonçalves R. Recombinant Forms of Leishmania amazonensis Excreted/Secreted Promastigote Surface Antigen (PSA) Induce Protective Immune Responses in Dogs. PLoS Negl Trop Dis 2016; 10:e0004614. [PMID: 27223609 PMCID: PMC4880307 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pntd.0004614] [Citation(s) in RCA: 21] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/21/2015] [Accepted: 03/16/2016] [Indexed: 01/08/2023] Open
Abstract
Preventive vaccination is a highly promising strategy for interrupting leishmaniasis transmission that can, additionally, contribute to elimination. A vaccine formulation based on naturally excreted secreted (ES) antigens was prepared from L. infantum promastigote culture supernatant. This vaccine achieved successful results in Phase III trials and was licensed and marketed as CaniLeish. We recently showed that newly identified ES promastigote surface antigen (PSA), from both viable promastigotes and axenically-grown amastigotes, represented the major constituent and the highly immunogenic antigen of L. infantum and L. amazonensis ES products. We report here that three immunizations with either the recombinant ES LaPSA-38S (rPSA) or its carboxy terminal part LaPSA-12S (Cter-rPSA), combined with QA-21 as adjuvant, confer high levels of protection in naive L. infantum-infected Beagle dogs, as checked by bone marrow parasite absence in respectively 78.8% and 80% of vaccinated dogs at 6 months post-challenge. The parasite burden in infected vaccinated dogs was significantly reduced compared to placebo group, as measured by q-PCR. Moreover, our results reveal humoral and cellular immune response clear-cut differences between vaccinated and control dogs. An early increase in specific IgG2 antibodies was observed in rPSA/QA-21- and Cter-rPSA/QA-21-immunized dogs only. They were found functionally active in vitro and were highly correlated with vaccine protection. In vaccinated protected dogs, IFN-γ and NO productions, as well as anti-leishmanial macrophage activity, were increased. These data strongly suggest that ES PSA or its carboxy-terminal part, in recombinant forms, induce protection in a canine model of zoonotic visceral leishmaniasis by inducing a Th1-dominant immune response and an appropriate specific antibody response. These data suggest that they could be considered as important active components in vaccine candidates. Visceral leishmaniasis (VL), a potentially fatal disease caused by L. infantum, represents perfectly the need for a “One Health” approach for disease control, since it affects both humans and dogs, with similar clinical outcome and T-cell mediated immunity commitment. The dog vaccine development is highly required as our present resources for VL treatment and control have a limited effectiveness. It would represent the most convenient and efficient control way to decrease the dog-sandfly-dog transmission cycle, essential for human incidence reduction. The results indicate that recombinant forms of soluble promastigote surface antigen (PSA) are very promising effective vaccine candidates against canine VL. The elicited immune responses effectively reduced parasite load in in vitro pre-infected macrophages and in experimentally infected dogs. Through this approach, we aim to reduce the number of infected animals developing progressive infections thereby positively influencing human public health.
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MESH Headings
- Adaptive Immunity
- Adjuvants, Immunologic
- Animals
- Antibodies, Protozoan/blood
- Antigens, Protozoan/genetics
- Antigens, Protozoan/immunology
- Antigens, Surface/genetics
- Antigens, Surface/immunology
- Bone Marrow/parasitology
- Disease Models, Animal
- Dog Diseases/immunology
- Dog Diseases/parasitology
- Dog Diseases/prevention & control
- Dogs
- Female
- Immunity, Cellular
- Immunoglobulin G/blood
- Interferon-gamma/biosynthesis
- Leishmania infantum/immunology
- Leishmania infantum/physiology
- Leishmania mexicana/chemistry
- Leishmania mexicana/genetics
- Leishmania mexicana/immunology
- Leishmaniasis Vaccines/administration & dosage
- Leishmaniasis Vaccines/genetics
- Leishmaniasis Vaccines/immunology
- Leishmaniasis, Visceral/immunology
- Leishmaniasis, Visceral/parasitology
- Leishmaniasis, Visceral/prevention & control
- Leishmaniasis, Visceral/veterinary
- Macrophages/immunology
- Nitric Oxide/biosynthesis
- Parasite Load
- Polymerase Chain Reaction
- Protozoan Proteins/genetics
- Protozoan Proteins/immunology
- Recombinant Proteins/administration & dosage
- Recombinant Proteins/immunology
- Th1 Cells/immunology
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Julie Pagniez
- IRD, UMR 177 INTERTRYP IRD CIRAD, Montpellier, France
| | | | - Philippe Vincendeau
- University Hospital of Bordeaux, Laboratoire de Parasitologie-Mycologie, Bordeaux, France
- Université de Bordeaux, UMR 177 INTERTRYP IRD CIRAD, Bordeaux, France
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Bahl S, Parashar S, Malhotra H, Raje M, Mukhopadhyay A. Functional Characterization of Monomeric GTPase Rab1 in the Secretory Pathway of Leishmania. J Biol Chem 2015; 290:29993-30005. [PMID: 26499792 DOI: 10.1074/jbc.m115.670018] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/04/2015] [Indexed: 12/20/2022] Open
Abstract
Leishmania secretes a large number of its effectors to the extracellular milieu. However, regulation of the secretory pathway in Leishmania is not well characterized. Here, we report the cloning, expression, and characterization of the Rab1 homologue from Leishmania. We have found that LdRab1 localizes in Golgi in Leishmania. To understand the role of LdRab1 in the secretory pathway of Leishmania, we have generated transgenic parasites overexpressing GFP-LdRab1:WT, GFP-LdRab1:Q67L (a GTPase-deficient dominant positive mutant of Rab1), and GFP-LdRab1:S22N (a GDP-locked dominant negative mutant of Rab1). Surprisingly, our results have shown that overexpression of GFP-LdRab1:Q67L or GFP-LdRab1:S22N does not disrupt the trafficking and localization of hemoglobin receptor in Leishmania. To determine whether the Rab1-dependent secretory pathway is conserved in parasites, we have analyzed the role of LdRab1 in the secretion of secretory acid phosphatase and Ldgp63 in Leishmania. Our results have shown that overexpression of GFP-LdRab1:Q67L or GFP-LdRab1:S22N significantly inhibits the secretion of secretory acid phosphatase by Leishmania. We have also found that overexpression of GFP-LdRab1:Q67L or GFP-LdRab1:S22N retains RFP-Ldgp63 in Golgi and blocks the secretion of Ldgp63, whereas the trafficking of RFP-Ldgp63 in GFP-LdRab1:WT-expressing cells is unaltered in comparison with control cells. Taken together, our results have shown that the Rab1-regulated secretory pathway is well conserved, and hemoglobin receptor trafficking follows an Rab1-independent secretory pathway in Leishmania.
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Affiliation(s)
- Surbhi Bahl
- From the National Institute of Immunology, Aruna Asaf Ali Marg, New Delhi 110067, India and
| | - Smriti Parashar
- From the National Institute of Immunology, Aruna Asaf Ali Marg, New Delhi 110067, India and
| | | | - Manoj Raje
- the Institute of Microbial Technology, Chandigarh 160036, India
| | - Amitabha Mukhopadhyay
- From the National Institute of Immunology, Aruna Asaf Ali Marg, New Delhi 110067, India and
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de Mendonça SCF, Cysne-Finkelstein L, Matos DCDS. Kinetoplastid Membrane Protein-11 as a Vaccine Candidate and a Virulence Factor in Leishmania. Front Immunol 2015; 6:524. [PMID: 26528287 PMCID: PMC4602152 DOI: 10.3389/fimmu.2015.00524] [Citation(s) in RCA: 26] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/02/2015] [Accepted: 09/25/2015] [Indexed: 01/02/2023] Open
Abstract
Kinetoplastid membrane protein-11 (KMP-11), a protein present in all kinetoplastid protozoa, is considered a potential candidate for a leishmaniasis vaccine. In Leishmania amazonensis, KMP-11 is expressed in promastigotes and amastigotes. In both stages, the protein was found in association with membrane structures at the cell surface, flagellar pocket, and intracellular vesicles. More importantly, its surface expression is higher in amastigotes than in promastigotes and increases during metacyclogenesis. The increased expression of KMP-11 in metacyclic promastigotes, and especially in amastigotes, indicates a role for this molecule in the parasite relationship with the mammalian host. In this connection, we have shown that addition of KMP-11 exacerbates L. amazonensis infection in peritoneal macrophages from BALB/c mice by increasing interleukin (IL)-10 secretion and arginase activity while reducing nitric oxide production. The doses of KMP-11, the IL-10 levels, and the intracellular amastigote loads were strongly, positively, and significantly correlated. The increase in parasite load induced by KMP-11 was inhibited by anti-KMP-11 or anti-IL-10-neutralizing antibodies, but not by isotype controls. The neutralizing antibodies, but not the isotype controls, were also able to significantly decrease the parasite load in macrophages cultured without the addition of KMP-11, demonstrating that KMP-11-induced exacerbation of the infection is not dependent on the addition of exogenous KMP-11 and that the protein naturally expressed by the parasite is able to promote it. All these data indicate that KMP-11 acts as a virulence factor in L. amazonensis infection.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Léa Cysne-Finkelstein
- Laboratório de Imunoparasitologia, Instituto Oswaldo Cruz, Fundação Oswaldo Cruz , Rio de Janeiro , Brazil
| | - Denise Cristina de Souza Matos
- Laboratório de Tecnologia Imunológica, Instituto de Tecnologia em Imunobiológicos, Fundação Oswaldo Cruz , Rio de Janeiro , Brazil
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Infrared fluorescent imaging as a potent tool for in vitro, ex vivo and in vivo models of visceral leishmaniasis. PLoS Negl Trop Dis 2015; 9:e0003666. [PMID: 25826250 PMCID: PMC4380447 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pntd.0003666] [Citation(s) in RCA: 52] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/27/2014] [Accepted: 03/02/2015] [Indexed: 11/19/2022] Open
Abstract
Background Visceral leishmaniasis (VL) is hypoendemic in the Mediterranean region, where it is caused by the protozoan Leishmania infantum. An effective vaccine for humans is not yet available and the severe side-effects of the drugs in clinical use, linked to the parenteral administration route of most of them, are significant concerns of the current leishmanicidal medicines. New drugs are desperately needed to treat VL and phenotype-based High Throughput Screenings (HTS) appear to be suitable to achieve this goal in the coming years. Methodology/Principal findings We generated two infrared fluorescent L. infantum strains, which stably overexpress the IFP 1.4 and iRFP reporter genes and performed comparative studies of their biophotonic properties at both promastigote and amastigote stages. To improve the fluorescence emission of the selected reporter in intracellular amastigotes, we engineered distinct constructs by introducing regulatory sequences of differentially-expressed genes (A2, AMASTIN and HSP70 II). The final strain that carries the iRFP gene under the control of the L. infantum HSP70 II downstream region (DSR), was employed to perform a phenotypic screening of a collection of small molecules by using ex vivo splenocytes from infrared-infected BALB/c mice. In order to further investigate the usefulness of this infrared strain, we monitored an in vivo infection by imaging BALB/c mice in a time-course study of 20 weeks. Conclusions/Significance The near-infrared fluorescent L. infantum strain represents an important step forward in bioimaging research of VL, providing a robust model of phenotypic screening suitable for HTS of small molecule collections in the mammalian parasite stage. Additionally, HSP70 II+L. infantum strain permitted for the first time to monitor an in vivo infection of VL. This finding accelerates the possibility of testing new drugs in preclinical in vivo studies, thus supporting the urgent and challenging drug discovery program against this parasitic disease. Visceral leishmaniasis (VL), caused by Leishmania infantum or L. donovani, is still one of the most threatening diseases affecting poor people in developing countries, with a fatality rate as high as 100% in two years in infected and untreated people. With no vaccine available and ineffective and toxic chemotherapy, the search for new potential drugs that accelerate the urgent drug discovery process are highly needed. A novel technology that addresses this important issue has been developed, by performing High Throughput Screening (HTS) assays in 384-well plates format in combination with an infrared L. infantum-expressing strain. The system was further validated to identify active compounds against VL in an ex vivo splenic culture. In addition, in vivo non-invasive imaging of the visceral infection in BALB/c mice was achieved for the first time by using transgenic fluorescent parasites. These findings open up the possibility of testing vast amounts of potential compounds and allow in vivo screening of drug candidates against this severe parasitic disease in an attempt to speed up the vital drug discovery program.
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SHIRALI S, HADDADZADEH H, MOHEBALI M, KAZEMI B, AMINI N. Cloning and Expression of Recombinant Plasmid Containing P36/LACK Gene of Leishmania infantum Iranian Strain. IRANIAN JOURNAL OF PARASITOLOGY 2015; 10:164-70. [PMID: 26246813 PMCID: PMC4522291] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/10/2014] [Accepted: 01/12/2015] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
Abstract
BACKGROUND There are several methods, such as vaccination, to control visceral leishmaniasis. Although there is no efficient vaccine, it seem DNA vaccination with stimulates both cellular and humoral immunity apparently is the best way. The aim of this study was cloning and expression of LACK gene, a 36kD protein, as a candidate protein for vaccination against Iranian L. infantum. METHODS Iranian strain of L. infantum [MCAN/IR/07/Moheb-gh] was used as a template for PCR to amplify LACK gene. The LACK gene was cloned in pTZ57R/T vector and after confirmation it was digested by restriction enzymes (BamH1) and cloned in pcDNA3.1 expression vector. Recombinant plasmid was extracted and analyzed by sequencing, restriction digestion analysis and PCR reaction. The pc- LACK recombinant plasmid was purified from transformed E.coli (DH5α) and its expression was analyzed by SDS-PAGE and Western blot. RESULTS The results of sequencing, restriction digestion analysis and PCR reaction revealed that LACK gene was cloned correctly in pcDNA3.1 vector and the results of SDS PAGE and Western blot emphasized that LACK protein of Iranian L. infantum is a well-expressed protein. CONCLUSION We amplified, cloned and expressed Iranian L. infantum LACK gene successfully.
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Affiliation(s)
- Saloomeh SHIRALI
- Dept. of Biology, Faculty of Basic science, Ahvaz branch, Islamic Azad University, Ahvaz, Iran,Dept. of Parasitology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran
| | - Hamidreza HADDADZADEH
- Dept. of Parasitology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran,Correspondence
| | - Mehdi MOHEBALI
- Dept. of Medical Parasitology and Mycology, School of Public health, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Iran,Center for Research of Endemic Parasites of Iran (CREPI), Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
| | - Bahram KAZEMI
- Cellular and Molecular Biology Research Center, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran,Dept. of Biotechnology, School of Medicine, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
| | - Narges AMINI
- Dept. of Parasitology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran
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Das S, Freier A, Boussoffara T, Das S, Oswald D, Losch FO, Selka M, Sacerdoti-Sierra N, Schönian G, Wiesmüller KH, Seifert K, Schroff M, Juhls C, Jaffe CL, Roy S, Das P, Louzir H, Croft SL, Modabber F, Walden P. Modular multiantigen T cell epitope-enriched DNA vaccine against human leishmaniasis. Sci Transl Med 2014; 6:234ra56. [PMID: 24786324 DOI: 10.1126/scitranslmed.3008222] [Citation(s) in RCA: 47] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/02/2022]
Abstract
The leishmaniases are protozoal diseases that severely affect large populations in tropical and subtropical regions. There are only limited treatment options and preventative measures. Vaccines will be important for prevention, control and elimination of leishmaniasis, and could reduce the transmission and burden of disease in endemic populations. We report the development of a DNA vaccine against leishmaniasis that induced T cell-based immunity and is a candidate for clinical trials. The vaccine antigens were selected as conserved in various Leishmania species, different endemic regions, and over time. They were tested with T cells from individuals cured of leishmaniasis, and shown to be immunogenic and to induce CD4(+) and CD8(+) T cell responses in genetically diverse human populations of different endemic regions. The vaccine proved protective in a rodent model of infection. Thus, the immunogenicity of candidate vaccine antigens in human populations of endemic regions, as well as proof of principle for induction of specific immune responses and protection against Leishmania infection in mice, provides a viable strategy for T cell vaccine development.
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Affiliation(s)
- Shantanabha Das
- Infectious Diseases and Immunology Division, Indian Institute of Chemical Biology (Council of Scientific and Industrial Research), 4 Raja S.C. Mullick Road, Kolkata 700032, India
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Abstract
Leishmaniasis is a neglected tropical disease spread by an arthropod vector. It remains a significant health problem with an incidence of 0.2–0.4 million visceral leishmaniasis and 0.7–1.2 million cutaneous leishmaniasis cases each year. There are limitations associated with the current therapeutic regimens for leishmaniasis and the fact that after recovery from infection the host becomes immune to subsequent infection therefore, these factors force the feasibility of a vaccine for leishmaniasis. Publication of the genome sequence of Leishmania has paved a new way to understand the pathogenesis and host immunological status therefore providing a deep insight in the field of vaccine research. This review is an effort to study the antigenic targets in Leishmania to develop an anti-leishmanial vaccine.
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28
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Cecílio P, Pérez-Cabezas B, Santarém N, Maciel J, Rodrigues V, Cordeiro da Silva A. Deception and manipulation: the arms of leishmania, a successful parasite. Front Immunol 2014; 5:480. [PMID: 25368612 PMCID: PMC4202772 DOI: 10.3389/fimmu.2014.00480] [Citation(s) in RCA: 44] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/28/2014] [Accepted: 09/19/2014] [Indexed: 12/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Leishmania spp. are intracellular parasitic protozoa responsible for a group of neglected tropical diseases, endemic in 98 countries around the world, called leishmaniasis. These parasites have a complex digenetic life cycle requiring a susceptible vertebrate host and a permissive insect vector, which allow their transmission. The clinical manifestations associated with leishmaniasis depend on complex interactions between the parasite and the host immune system. Consequently, leishmaniasis can be manifested as a self-healing cutaneous affliction or a visceral pathology, being the last one fatal in 85–90% of untreated cases. As a result of a long host–parasite co-evolutionary process, Leishmania spp. developed different immunomodulatory strategies that are essential for the establishment of infection. Only through deception and manipulation of the immune system, Leishmania spp. can complete its life cycle and survive. The understanding of the mechanisms associated with immune evasion and disease progression is essential for the development of novel therapies and vaccine approaches. Here, we revise how the parasite manipulates cell death and immune responses to survive and thrive in the shadow of the immune system.
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Affiliation(s)
- Pedro Cecílio
- Parasite Disease Group, Institute for Molecular and Cell Biology (IBMC), University of Porto , Porto , Portugal
| | - Begoña Pérez-Cabezas
- Parasite Disease Group, Institute for Molecular and Cell Biology (IBMC), University of Porto , Porto , Portugal
| | - Nuno Santarém
- Parasite Disease Group, Institute for Molecular and Cell Biology (IBMC), University of Porto , Porto , Portugal
| | - Joana Maciel
- Parasite Disease Group, Institute for Molecular and Cell Biology (IBMC), University of Porto , Porto , Portugal
| | - Vasco Rodrigues
- Parasite Disease Group, Institute for Molecular and Cell Biology (IBMC), University of Porto , Porto , Portugal
| | - Anabela Cordeiro da Silva
- Parasite Disease Group, Institute for Molecular and Cell Biology (IBMC), University of Porto , Porto , Portugal ; Department of Biological Sciences, Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Porto , Porto , Portugal
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Combining cationic liposomal delivery with MPL-TDM for cysteine protease cocktail vaccination against Leishmania donovani: evidence for antigen synergy and protection. PLoS Negl Trop Dis 2014; 8:e3091. [PMID: 25144181 PMCID: PMC4140747 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pntd.0003091] [Citation(s) in RCA: 34] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/27/2013] [Accepted: 07/02/2014] [Indexed: 01/29/2023] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND With the paucity of new drugs and HIV co-infection, vaccination remains an unmet research priority to combat visceral leishmaniasis (VL) requiring strong cellular immunity. Protein vaccination often suffers from low immunogenicity and poor generation of memory T cells for long-lasting protection. Cysteine proteases (CPs) are immunogenic proteins and key mediators of cellular functions in Leishmania. Here, we evaluated the vaccine efficacies of CPs against VL, using cationic liposomes with Toll like receptor agonists for stimulating host immunity against L. donovani in a hamster model. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS Recombinant CPs type I (cpb), II (cpa) and III (cpc) of L. donovani were tested singly and in combination as a triple antigen cocktail for antileishmanial vaccination in hamsters. We found the antigens to be highly immunoreactive and persistent anti-CPA, anti-CPB and anti-CPC antibodies were detected in VL patients even after cure. The liposome-entrapped CPs with monophosphoryl lipid A-Trehalose dicorynomycolate (MPL-TDM) induced significantly high nitric oxide (up to 4 fold higher than controls) mediated antileishmanial activity in vitro, and resulted in strong in vivo protection. Among the three CPs, CPC emerged as the most potent vaccine candidate in combating the disease. Interestingly, a synergistic increase in protection was observed with liposomal CPA, CPB and CPC antigenic cocktail which reduced the organ parasite burden by 1013-1016 folds, and increased the disease-free survival of >80% animals at least up to 6 months post infection. Robust secretion of IFN-γ and IL-12, along with concomitant downregulation of Th2 cytokines, was observed in cocktail vaccinates, even after 3 months post infection. CONCLUSION/SIGNIFICANCE The present study is the first report of a comparative efficacy of leishmanial CPs and their cocktail using liposomal formulation with MPL-TDM against L. donovani. The level of protection attained has not been reported for any other subcutaneous single or polyprotein vaccination against VL.
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30
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31
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Guha R, Gupta D, Rastogi R, Vikram R, Krishnamurthy G, Bimal S, Roy S, Mukhopadhyay A. Vaccination with leishmania hemoglobin receptor-encoding DNA protects against visceral leishmaniasis. Sci Transl Med 2014; 5:202ra121. [PMID: 24027025 DOI: 10.1126/scitranslmed.3006406] [Citation(s) in RCA: 58] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/21/2023]
Abstract
Leishmaniasis is a severe infectious disease. Drugs used for leishmaniasis are very toxic, and no vaccine is available. We found that the hemoglobin receptor (HbR) of Leishmania was conserved across various strains of Leishmania, and anti-HbR antibody could be detected in kala-azar patients' sera. Our results showed that immunization with HbR-DNA induces complete protection against virulent Leishmania donovani infection in both BALB/c mice and hamsters. Moreover, HbR-DNA immunization stimulated the production of protective cytokines like interferon-γ (IFN-γ), interleukin-12 (IL-12), and tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) with concomitant down-regulation of disease-promoting cytokines like IL-10 and IL-4. HbR-DNA vaccination also induced a protective response by generating multifunctional CD4(+) and CD8(+) T cells. All HbR-DNA-vaccinated hamsters showed sterile protection and survived during an experimental period of 8 months. These findings demonstrate the potential of HbR as a vaccine candidate against visceral leishmaniasis.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rajan Guha
- Indian Institute of Chemical Biology, 4 Raja S. C. Mullick Road, Kolkata 700 032, India
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Abstract
Visceral leishmaniasis is a chronic parasitic disease associated with severe immune dysfunction. Treatment options are limited to relatively toxic drugs, and there is no vaccine for humans available. Hence, there is an urgent need to better understand immune responses following infection with Leishmania species by studying animal models of disease and clinical samples from patients. Here, we review recent discoveries in these areas and highlight shortcomings in our knowledge that need to be addressed if better treatment options are to be developed and effective vaccines designed.
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Selvapandiyan A, Dey R, Gannavaram S, Solanki S, Salotra P, Nakhasi HL. Generation of growth arrested Leishmania amastigotes: a tool to develop live attenuated vaccine candidates against visceral leishmaniasis. Vaccine 2014; 32:3895-901. [PMID: 24837513 DOI: 10.1016/j.vaccine.2014.05.009] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/20/2014] [Revised: 04/19/2014] [Accepted: 05/01/2014] [Indexed: 12/24/2022]
Abstract
Visceral leishmaniasis (VL) is fatal if not treated and is prevalent widely in the tropical and sub-tropical regions of world. VL is caused by the protozoan parasite Leishmania donovani or Leishmania infantum. Although several second generation vaccines have been licensed to protect dogs against VL, there are no effective vaccines against human VL [1]. Since people cured of leishmaniasis develop lifelong protection, development of live attenuated Leishmania parasites as vaccines, which can have controlled infection, may be a close surrogate to leishmanization. This can be achieved by deletion of genes involved in the regulation of growth and/or virulence of the parasite. Such mutant parasites generally do not revert to virulence in animal models even under conditions of induced immune suppression due to complete deletion of the essential gene(s). In the Leishmania life cycle, the intracellular amastigote form is the virulent form and causes disease in the mammalian hosts. We developed centrin gene deleted L. donovani parasites that displayed attenuated growth only in the amastigote stage and were found safe and efficacious against virulent challenge in the experimental animal models. Thus, targeting genes differentially expressed in the amastigote stage would potentially attenuate only the amastigote stage and hence controlled infectivity may be effective in developing immunity. This review lays out the strategies for attenuation of the growth of the amastigote form of Leishmania for use as live vaccine against leishmaniasis, with a focus on visceral leishmaniasis.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Ranadhir Dey
- Division of Emerging and Transfusion Transmitted Diseases, CBER, FDA, Bethesda, MD, USA
| | - Sreenivas Gannavaram
- Division of Emerging and Transfusion Transmitted Diseases, CBER, FDA, Bethesda, MD, USA
| | - Sumit Solanki
- Institute of Molecular Medicine, New Delhi, India; C.G. Bhakta Institute of Biotechnology, Tarsadi, Gujarat, India
| | - Poonam Salotra
- National Institute of Pathology (ICMR), New Delhi, India
| | - Hira L Nakhasi
- Division of Emerging and Transfusion Transmitted Diseases, CBER, FDA, Bethesda, MD, USA
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Chhajer R, Ali N. Genetically modified organisms and visceral leishmaniasis. Front Immunol 2014; 5:213. [PMID: 24860575 PMCID: PMC4030198 DOI: 10.3389/fimmu.2014.00213] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/18/2014] [Accepted: 04/28/2014] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Vaccination is the most effective method of preventing infectious diseases. Since the eradication of small pox in 1976, many other potentially life compromising if not threatening diseases have been dealt with subsequently. This event was a major leap not only in the scientific world already burdened with many diseases but also in the mindset of the common man who became more receptive to novel treatment options. Among the many protozoan diseases, the leishmaniases have emerged as one of the largest parasite killers of the world, second only to malaria. There are three types of leishmaniasis namely cutaneous (CL), mucocutaneous (ML), and visceral (VL), caused by a group of more than 20 species of Leishmania parasites. Visceral leishmaniasis, also known as kala-azar is the most severe form and almost fatal if untreated. Since the first attempts at leishmanization, we have killed parasite vaccines, subunit protein, or DNA vaccines, and now we have live recombinant carrier vaccines and live attenuated parasite vaccines under various stages of development. Although some research has shown promising results, many more potential genes need to be evaluated as live attenuated vaccine candidates. This mini-review attempts to summarize the success and failures of genetically modified organisms used in vaccination against some of major parasitic diseases for their application in leishmaniasis.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rudra Chhajer
- Infectious Diseases and Immunology Division, Council of Scientific and Industrial Research-Indian Institute of Chemical Biology , Kolkata , India
| | - Nahid Ali
- Infectious Diseases and Immunology Division, Council of Scientific and Industrial Research-Indian Institute of Chemical Biology , Kolkata , India
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A comparative evaluation of efficacy of chemotherapy, immunotherapy and immunochemotherapy in visceral leishmaniasis-an experimental study. Parasitol Int 2014; 63:612-20. [PMID: 24747611 DOI: 10.1016/j.parint.2014.04.002] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/18/2013] [Revised: 04/07/2014] [Accepted: 04/09/2014] [Indexed: 11/23/2022]
Abstract
Visceral leishmaniasis (VL) represents the second most challenging infectious disease worldwide, leading to nearly 500,000 new cases and 60,000 deaths annually. Ninety per cent of VL cases occur in five countries namely Bangladesh, India, Nepal, Sudan and Brazil. No licensed vaccine is available till date against any form of leishmaniasis. High toxicity and increasing resistance to the current chemotherapeutic regimens have further complicated the situation in VL endemic regions of the world. To combat this situation, immunochemotherapy can provide a solution. In the present study, an attempt has been made to assess the in vivo antileishmanial efficacy of chemotherapy, immunotherapy and immunochemotherapy with the use of a first generation antigen Killed Leishmania donovani (KLD) along with a standard drug sodium stibogluconate (SSG) and a newly tested antileishmanial cisplatin. Inbred BALB/c mice were infected with 10(7) promastigotes/0.1 ml of Leishmania donovani. A month after infection, these animals were given specific immunotherapy (KLD/KLD+MPL-A) or chemotherapy (SSG/cisplatin) or immunochemotherapy (SSG+KLD/SSG+KLD+MPL-A/cisplatin+KLD/cisplatin+KLD+MPL-A). Animals were sacrificed on 1, 15 and 30(th) day post treatment. The efficacy of these combinations was assessed in terms of parasite load and by immunological investigations. Infected mice and normal mice served as controls. Results showed that combination of drug and KLD significantly reduced the parasite burden, enhanced the DTH (Delayed Type Hypersensitivity) responses, showed increased levels of IgG2a and decreased levels of IgG1 as compared to mice given chemotherapy or immunotherapy alone. Further maximum protection was provided by SSG+KLD+MPL-A and it was most effective as depicted by 98.5% reduction in parasite load, a potent increase in IFN-γ levels and a significant decrease in IL-10 and IL-4 levels thus skewing the immune response towards Th1 type. Hence, immunochemotherapy is more effective in control of VL in comparison to chemotherapy or immunotherapy.
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36
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Niknam HM, Abrishami F, Doroudian M, Rostamian M, Moradi M, Khaze V, Iravani D. Immune responses of Iranian patients with visceral leishmaniasis and recovered individuals to LCR1 of Leishmania infantum. CLINICAL AND VACCINE IMMUNOLOGY : CVI 2014; 21:518-25. [PMID: 24501341 PMCID: PMC3993108 DOI: 10.1128/cvi.00711-13] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/14/2013] [Accepted: 01/27/2014] [Indexed: 11/20/2022]
Abstract
Visceral leishmaniasis is a serious public health problem. Leishmania infantum is one of its causative agents. LCR1 is an immunogen from L. infantum. Antibodies against this protein have been detected in visceral leishmaniasis patients. The aim of this study was to define the antibody and cellular immune responses against LCR1 in Iranian visceral leishmaniasis patients and recovered individuals. The LCR1 protein was produced in recombinant form. Antibody responses against this protein were studied in Iranian individuals with a recent history of visceral leishmaniasis. Responses of peripheral blood mononuclear cells to this protein were studied in Iranian individuals who had recovered from visceral leishmaniasis. Our data show that (i) there was an antibody response to LCR1 in each individual with a recent history of visceral leishmaniasis studied, (ii) there was neither a proliferative response nor production of gamma interferon (IFN-γ) or interleukin 10 in response to LCR1 by mononuclear cells from individuals who had recovered from visceral leishmaniasis, and (iii) individuals who have recovered from visceral leishmaniasis show ongoing immune responses long after recovery from the disease. These data show that there are no detectable cellular memory responses to LCR1 in Iranian individuals who have recovered from visceral leishmaniasis, while there are detectable antibody responses in patients with this disease. Our data suggest that LCR1 has potential applications for the diagnosis of leishmaniasis through antibody detection, while the application of LCR1 alone for induction of IFN-γ in individuals who recovered from this disease is not supported. The presence of long-lasting immune reactivities in individuals who recovered from the disease may show the necessity of extended medical surveillance for these individuals.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hamid M Niknam
- Immunology Department, Pasteur Institute of Iran, Tehran, Iran
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Saljoughian N, Taheri T, Rafati S. Live vaccination tactics: possible approaches for controlling visceral leishmaniasis. Front Immunol 2014; 5:134. [PMID: 24744757 PMCID: PMC3978289 DOI: 10.3389/fimmu.2014.00134] [Citation(s) in RCA: 40] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/05/2014] [Accepted: 03/17/2014] [Indexed: 01/15/2023] Open
Abstract
Vaccination with durable immunity is the main goal and fundamental to control leishmaniasis. To stimulate the immune response, small numbers of parasites are necessary to be presented in the mammalian host. Similar to natural course of infection, strategy using live vaccine is more attractive when compared to other approaches. Live vaccines present the whole spectrum of antigens to the host immune system in the absence of any adjuvant. Leishmanization was the first effort for live vaccination and currently used in a few countries against cutaneous leishmaniasis, in spite of their obstacle and safety. Then, live attenuated vaccines developed with similar promotion of creating long-term immunity in the host with lower side effect. Different examples of attenuated strains are generated through long-term in vitro culturing, culturing under drug pressure, temperature sensitivity, and chemical mutagenesis, but none is safe enough and their revision to virulent form is possible. Attenuation through genetic manipulation and disruption of virulence factors or essential enzymes for intracellular survival are among other approaches that are intensively under study. Other designs to develop live vaccines for visceral form of leishmaniasis are utilization of live avirulent microorganisms such as Lactococcus lactis, Salmonella enterica, and Leishmania tarentolae called as vectored vaccine. Apparently, these vaccines are intrinsically safer and can harbor the candidate antigens in their genome through different genetic manipulation and create more potential to control Leishmania parasite as an intracellular pathogen.
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Affiliation(s)
- Noushin Saljoughian
- Molecular Immunology and Vaccine Research Laboratory, Pasteur Institute of Iran, Tehran, Iran
| | - Tahareh Taheri
- Molecular Immunology and Vaccine Research Laboratory, Pasteur Institute of Iran, Tehran, Iran
| | - Sima Rafati
- Molecular Immunology and Vaccine Research Laboratory, Pasteur Institute of Iran, Tehran, Iran
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Mason L, Amani P, Cross M, Baker J, Bailey UM, Jones MK, Gasser RB, Hofmann A. The Relevance of Structural Biology in Studying Molecules Involved in Parasite–Host Interactions: Potential for Designing New Interventions. Aust J Chem 2014. [DOI: 10.1071/ch14304] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/23/2022]
Abstract
New interventions against infectious diseases require a detailed knowledge and understanding of pathogen–host interactions and pathogeneses at the molecular level. The combination of the considerable advances in systems biology research with methods to explore the structural biology of molecules is poised to provide new insights into these areas. Importantly, exploring three-dimensional structures of proteins is central to understanding disease processes, and establishing structure–function relationships assists in identification and assessment of new drug and vaccine targets. Frequently, the molecular arsenal deployed by invading pathogens, and in particular parasites, reveals a common theme whereby families of proteins with conserved three-dimensional folds play crucial roles in infectious processes, but individual members of such families show high levels of specialisation, which is often achieved through grafting particular structural features onto the shared overall fold. Accordingly, the applicability of predictive methodologies based on the primary structure of proteins or genome annotations is limited, particularly when thorough knowledge of molecular-level mechanisms is required. Such instances exemplify the need for experimental three-dimensional structures provided by protein crystallography, which remain an essential component of this area of research. In the present article, we review two examples of key protein families recently investigated in our laboratories, which could represent intervention targets in the metabolome or secretome of parasites.
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Joshi J, Kaur S. To investigate the therapeutic potential of immunochemotherapy with cisplatin + 78 kDa + MPL-A againstLeishmania donovaniin BALB/c mice. Parasite Immunol 2013; 36:3-12. [DOI: 10.1111/pim.12071] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/26/2013] [Accepted: 08/05/2013] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- J. Joshi
- Department of Zoology; Panjab University; Chandigarh India
| | - S. Kaur
- Department of Zoology; Panjab University; Chandigarh India
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40
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Saljoughian N, Taheri T, Zahedifard F, Taslimi Y, Doustdari F, Bolhassani A, Doroud D, Azizi H, Heidari K, Vasei M, Namvar Asl N, Papadopoulou B, Rafati S. Development of novel prime-boost strategies based on a tri-gene fusion recombinant L. tarentolae vaccine against experimental murine visceral leishmaniasis. PLoS Negl Trop Dis 2013; 7:e2174. [PMID: 23638195 PMCID: PMC3630202 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pntd.0002174] [Citation(s) in RCA: 59] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/19/2012] [Accepted: 03/08/2013] [Indexed: 11/19/2022] Open
Abstract
Visceral leishmaniasis (VL) is a vector-borne disease affecting humans and domestic animals that constitutes a serious public health problem in many countries. Although many antigens have been examined so far as protein- or DNA-based vaccines, none of them conferred complete long-term protection. The use of the lizard non-pathogenic to humans Leishmania (L.) tarentolae species as a live vaccine vector to deliver specific Leishmania antigens is a recent approach that needs to be explored further. In this study, we evaluated the effectiveness of live vaccination in protecting BALB/c mice against L. infantum infection using prime-boost regimens, namely Live/Live and DNA/Live. As a live vaccine, we used recombinant L. tarentolae expressing the L. donovani A2 antigen along with cysteine proteinases (CPA and CPB without its unusual C-terminal extension (CPB-CTE)) as a tri-fusion gene. For DNA priming, the tri-fusion gene was encoded in pcDNA formulated with cationic solid lipid nanoparticles (cSLN) acting as an adjuvant. At different time points post-challenge, parasite burden and histopathological changes as well as humoral and cellular immune responses were assessed. Our results showed that immunization with both prime-boost A2-CPA-CPB-CTE-recombinant L. tarentolae protects BALB/c mice against L. infantum challenge. This protective immunity is associated with a Th1-type immune response due to high levels of IFN-γ production prior and after challenge and with lower levels of IL-10 production after challenge, leading to a significantly higher IFN-γ/IL-10 ratio compared to the control groups. Moreover, this immunization elicited high IgG1 and IgG2a humoral immune responses. Protection in mice was also correlated with a high nitric oxide production and low parasite burden. Altogether, these results indicate the promise of the A2-CPA-CPB-CTE-recombinant L. tarentolae as a safe live vaccine candidate against VL. Visceral leishmaniasis (VL) is the most severe form of leishmaniasis and has emerged as an opportunistic infection in HIV-1 infected patients in many parts of the world. Drug-resistant forms have developed so emergence and increased the need for advanced preventive strategies. Using live avirulent organisms as a vaccine has been proven to be more effective than other regimens. The lizard protozoan parasite Leishmania tarentolae is considered as nonpathogenic to humans. In our previous work, a recombinant L. tarentolae strain expressing the amastigote-specific L. donovani A2 antigen as a vaccine candidate elicited protection against L. infantum challenge in mice. Furthermore, combinations of CPA/CPB cysteine proteinases were more protective against visceral and cutaneous Leishmania infections than the individual forms. Herein, we used DNA/Live and Live/Live prime-boost vaccination strategies against visceral leishmaniasis in BALB/c mice consisting of the A2-CPA-CPB-CTE tri-fusion genes formulated with cationic solid lipid nanoparticles and a recombinant L. tarentolae expressing the tri-fusion. Assessments of cytokine production, humoral responses, parasite burden and histopathological studies support that the recombinant L. tarentolae A2-CPA-CPB-CTE candidate vaccine elicits a protective response against visceral leishmaniasis in mice and represents an important step forward in the development of new vaccine combinations against Leishmania infections.
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Affiliation(s)
- Noushin Saljoughian
- Molecular Immunology and Vaccine Research Laboratory, Pasteur Institute of Iran, Tehran, Iran
| | - Tahereh Taheri
- Molecular Immunology and Vaccine Research Laboratory, Pasteur Institute of Iran, Tehran, Iran
| | - Farnaz Zahedifard
- Molecular Immunology and Vaccine Research Laboratory, Pasteur Institute of Iran, Tehran, Iran
| | - Yasaman Taslimi
- Molecular Immunology and Vaccine Research Laboratory, Pasteur Institute of Iran, Tehran, Iran
| | - Fatemeh Doustdari
- Molecular Immunology and Vaccine Research Laboratory, Pasteur Institute of Iran, Tehran, Iran
| | - Azam Bolhassani
- Molecular Immunology and Vaccine Research Laboratory, Pasteur Institute of Iran, Tehran, Iran
| | - Delaram Doroud
- Department of Quality Control, Research and Production Complex, Pasteur Institute of Iran, Tehran, Iran
| | - Hiva Azizi
- Research Centre in Infectious Disease, CHUL Research Centre and Department of Microbiology, Infectious Disease and Immunology, Laval University, Quebec, Canada
| | - Kazem Heidari
- Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, School of Public Health, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
| | - Mohammad Vasei
- Department of Pathology, Shariati Hospital, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
| | - Nabiollah Namvar Asl
- Department of Laboratory of Animal Sciences, Pasteur Institute of Iran, Tehran, Iran
| | - Barbara Papadopoulou
- Research Centre in Infectious Disease, CHUL Research Centre and Department of Microbiology, Infectious Disease and Immunology, Laval University, Quebec, Canada
- * E-mail: (BP); (SR)
| | - Sima Rafati
- Molecular Immunology and Vaccine Research Laboratory, Pasteur Institute of Iran, Tehran, Iran
- * E-mail: (BP); (SR)
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Kumar V, Gour JK, Singh N, Bajpai S, Singh RK. Leishmania donovani-specific 25- and 28-kDa urinary proteins activate macrophage effector functions, lymphocyte proliferation and Th1 cytokines production. Parasitol Res 2013; 112:1427-35. [PMID: 23334693 DOI: 10.1007/s00436-013-3272-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/01/2012] [Accepted: 01/03/2013] [Indexed: 10/27/2022]
Abstract
Growing incidence of drug resistance against leishmaniasis in endemic areas and limited drug options necessitates the need for a vaccine. Notwithstanding significant leishmanial research in the past decades, a vaccine candidate is far from reality. In this study, we report the potential of two urinary leishmanial proteins to induce macrophage effector functions, inflammatory cytokines production and human lymphocytes proliferation. A total four proteins of molecular mass 25, 28, 54 and 60 kDa were identified in human urine samples. The 25 and 28 kDa proteins significantly induced NADPH oxidase (p<0.001), superoxide dismutase (p<0.001) and inducible nitric oxide synthase (p<0.001) activities in stimulated RAW264.7 macrophages. The release of nitric oxide, tumor necrosis factor-alpha and interleukin (IL)-12 was also significantly (p<0.001) higher in 25 and 28 kDa activated macrophages as compared with cells activated with other two proteins. These two proteins also induced significant (p<0.001) proliferation and release of IFN-γ and IL-12 in human peripheral blood mononuclear cells.
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Affiliation(s)
- Vinod Kumar
- Molecular Immunology Laboratory, Department of Biochemistry, Faculty of Science, Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi, 221 005, India
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42
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McCall LI, Zhang WW, Ranasinghe S, Matlashewski G. Leishmanization revisited: immunization with a naturally attenuated cutaneous Leishmania donovani isolate from Sri Lanka protects against visceral leishmaniasis. Vaccine 2012; 31:1420-5. [PMID: 23219435 DOI: 10.1016/j.vaccine.2012.11.065] [Citation(s) in RCA: 24] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/12/2012] [Revised: 11/08/2012] [Accepted: 11/25/2012] [Indexed: 10/27/2022]
Abstract
Leishmaniasis is a neglected tropical disease caused by Leishmania protozoa and associated with three main clinical presentations: cutaneous, mucocutaneous and visceral leishmaniasis. Visceral leishmaniasis is the second most lethal parasitic disease after malaria and there is so far no human vaccine. Leishmania donovani is a causative agent of visceral leishmaniasis in South East Asia and Eastern Africa. However, in Sri Lanka, L. donovani causes mainly cutaneous leishmaniasis, while visceral leishmaniasis is rare. We investigate here the possibility that the cutaneous form of L. donovani can provide immunological protection against the visceral form of the disease, as a potential explanation for why visceral leishmaniasis is rare in Sri Lanka. Subcutaneous immunization with a cutaneous clinical isolate from Sri Lanka was significantly protective against visceral leishmaniasis in BALB/c mice. Protection was associated with a mixed Th1/Th2 response. These results provide a possible rationale for the scarcity of visceral leishmaniasis in Sri Lanka and could guide leishmaniasis vaccine development efforts.
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Affiliation(s)
- Laura-Isobel McCall
- McGill University, Department of Microbiology and Immunology, 3775 University Street, Montreal, Quebec H3A 2B4, Canada
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43
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Todolí F, Rodríguez-Cortés A, Núñez MDC, Laurenti MD, Gómez-Sebastián S, Rodríguez F, Pérez-Martín E, Escribano JM, Alberola J. Head-to-head comparison of three vaccination strategies based on DNA and raw insect-derived recombinant proteins against Leishmania. PLoS One 2012; 7:e51181. [PMID: 23236448 PMCID: PMC3517401 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0051181] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/03/2012] [Accepted: 10/30/2012] [Indexed: 12/14/2022] Open
Abstract
Parasitic diseases plague billions of people among the poorest, killing millions annually, and causing additional millions of disability-adjusted life years lost. Leishmaniases affect more than 12 million people, with over 350 million people at risk. There is an urgent need for efficacious and cheap vaccines and treatments against visceral leishmaniasis (VL), its most severe form. Several vaccination strategies have been proposed but to date no head-to-head comparison was undertaken to assess which is the best in a clinical model of the disease. We simultaneously assayed three vaccination strategies against VL in the hamster model, using KMPII, TRYP, LACK, and PAPLE22 vaccine candidate antigens. Four groups of hamsters were immunized using the following approaches: 1) raw extracts of baculovirus-infected Trichoplusia ni larvae expressing individually one of the four recombinant proteins (PROT); 2) naked pVAX1 plasmids carrying the four genes individually (DNA); 3) a heterologous prime-boost (HPB) strategy involving DNA followed by PROT (DNA-PROT); and 4) a Control including empty pVAX1 plasmid followed by raw extract of wild-type baculovirus-infected T. ni larvae. Hamsters were challenged with L. infantum promastigotes and maintained for 20 weeks. While PROT vaccine was not protective, DNA vaccination achieved protection in spleen. Only DNA-PROT vaccination induced significant NO production by macrophages, accompanied by a significant parasitological protection in spleen and blood. Thus, the DNA-PROT strategy elicits strong immune responses and high parasitological protection in the clinical model of VL, better than its corresponding naked DNA or protein versions. Furthermore, we show that naked DNA coupled with raw recombinant proteins produced in insect larvae biofactories -the cheapest way of producing DNA-PROT vaccines- is a practical and cost-effective way for potential "off the shelf" supplying vaccines at very low prices for the protection against leishmaniases, and possibly against other parasitic diseases affecting the poorest of the poor.
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Affiliation(s)
- Felicitat Todolí
- LeishLAB–Servei d’Anàlisi de Fàrmacs, Departament de Farmacologia, de Terapèutica i de Toxicologia, Edifici V, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Bellaterra, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Alhelí Rodríguez-Cortés
- LeishLAB–Servei d’Anàlisi de Fàrmacs, Departament de Farmacologia, de Terapèutica i de Toxicologia, Edifici V, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Bellaterra, Barcelona, Spain
| | - María del Carmen Núñez
- Alternative Gene Expression S.L., Centro Empresarial, Parque Científico y Tecnológico de la Universidad Politécnica de Madrid, Pozuelo de Alarcón, Madrid, Spain
| | - Márcia D. Laurenti
- Laboratorio Patologia de Moléstias Infecciosas, Faculdade de Medicina da Universidade de São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil
| | - Silvia Gómez-Sebastián
- Alternative Gene Expression S.L., Centro Empresarial, Parque Científico y Tecnológico de la Universidad Politécnica de Madrid, Pozuelo de Alarcón, Madrid, Spain
| | - Fernando Rodríguez
- Centre de Recerca en Sanitat Animal (CReSA), UAB-IRTA, Campus de la UAB, Bellaterra, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Eva Pérez-Martín
- Centre de Recerca en Sanitat Animal (CReSA), UAB-IRTA, Campus de la UAB, Bellaterra, Barcelona, Spain
| | - José M. Escribano
- Departamento de Biotecnología, Instituto Nacional de Investigación y Tecnología Agraria y Alimentaria, Madrid, Spain
| | - Jordi Alberola
- LeishLAB–Servei d’Anàlisi de Fàrmacs, Departament de Farmacologia, de Terapèutica i de Toxicologia, Edifici V, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Bellaterra, Barcelona, Spain
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Aurones: a promising heterocyclic scaffold for the development of potent antileishmanial agents. INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF MEDICINAL CHEMISTRY 2012; 2012:196921. [PMID: 25374683 PMCID: PMC4207450 DOI: 10.1155/2012/196921] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/27/2012] [Accepted: 07/31/2012] [Indexed: 11/26/2022]
Abstract
A series of (Z)-2-benzylidenebenzofuran-3-(2H)-ones (aurones) bearing a variety of substituents on rings A and B were synthesized and evaluated for their antiparasitic activity against the intracellular amastigote form of Leishmania infantum and their cytotoxicity against human THP1-differentiated macrophages. In general, aurones bearing no substituents on ring A (compounds 4a–4f) exhibit higher toxicity than aurones with 4,6-dimethoxy substitution (compounds 4g–4l). Among the latter, two aurones possessing a 2′-methoxy or a 2′-methyl group (compounds 4i and 4j) exhibit potent antileishmanial activity (IC50 = 1.3 ± 0.1 μM and IC50 = 1.6 ± 0.2 μM, resp.), comparable to the activity of the reference drug Amphotericin B, whereas they present significantly lower cytotoxicity than Amphotericin B as deduced by the higher selectivity index.
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45
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Kushawaha PK, Gupta R, Tripathi CDP, Khare P, Jaiswal AK, Sundar S, Dube A. Leishmania donovani triose phosphate isomerase: a potential vaccine target against visceral leishmaniasis. PLoS One 2012; 7:e45766. [PMID: 23049855 PMCID: PMC3454378 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0045766] [Citation(s) in RCA: 27] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/03/2012] [Accepted: 08/23/2012] [Indexed: 11/20/2022] Open
Abstract
Visceral leishmaniasis (VL) is one of the most important parasitic diseases with approximately 350 million people at risk. Due to the non availability of an ideal drug, development of a safe, effective, and affordable vaccine could be a solution for control and prevention of this disease. In this study, a potential Th1 stimulatory protein- Triose phosphate isomerase (TPI), a glycolytic enzyme, identified through proteomics from a fraction of Leishmania donovani soluble antigen ranging from 89.9–97.1 kDa, was assessed for its potential as a suitable vaccine candidate. The protein- L. donovani TPI (LdTPI) was cloned, expressed and purified which exhibited the homology of 99% with L. infantum TPI. The rLdTPI was further evaluated for its immunogenicity by lymphoproliferative response (LTT), nitric oxide (NO) production and estimation of cytokines in cured Leishmania patients/hamster. It elicited strong LTT response in cured patients as well as NO production in cured hamsters and stimulated remarkable Th1-type cellular responses including IFN-ã and IL-12 with extremely lower level of IL-10 in Leishmania-infected cured/exposed patients PBMCs in vitro. Vaccination with LdTPI-DNA construct protected naive golden hamsters from virulent L. donovani challenge unambiguously (∼90%). The vaccinated hamsters demonstrated a surge in IFN-ã, TNF-á and IL-12 levels but extreme down-regulation of IL-10 and IL-4 along with profound delayed type hypersensitivity and increased levels of Leishmania-specific IgG2 antibody. Thus, the results are suggestive of the protein having the potential of a strong candidate vaccine.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Reema Gupta
- Division of Parasitology, Central Drug Research Institute, Lucknow, India
| | | | - Prashant Khare
- Division of Parasitology, Central Drug Research Institute, Lucknow, India
| | - Anil Kumar Jaiswal
- Division of Parasitology, Central Drug Research Institute, Lucknow, India
| | - Shyam Sundar
- Department of Medicine, Institute of Medical Sciences, Benaras Hindu University, Varanasi, India
| | - Anuradha Dube
- Division of Parasitology, Central Drug Research Institute, Lucknow, India
- * E-mail: ,
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Domínguez-Bernal G, Horcajo P, Orden JA, De La Fuente R, Herrero-Gil A, Ordóñez-Gutiérrez L, Carrión J. Mitigating an undesirable immune response of inherent susceptibility to cutaneous leishmaniosis in a mouse model: the role of the pathoantigenic HISA70 DNA vaccine. Vet Res 2012; 43:59. [PMID: 22876751 PMCID: PMC3503552 DOI: 10.1186/1297-9716-43-59] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/19/2012] [Accepted: 07/18/2012] [Indexed: 02/05/2023] Open
Abstract
Leishmania major is the major cause of cutaneous leishmaniosis (CL) outside of the Americas. In the present study we have cloned six Leishmania genes (H2A, H2B, H3, H4, A2 and HSP70) into the eukaryotic expression vector pCMVβ-m2a, resulting in pCMV-HISA70m2A, which encodes all six pathoantigenic proteins as a single polyprotein. This expression plasmid has been evaluated as a novel vaccine candidate in the BALB/c mouse model of CL. The DNA vaccine shifted the immune response normally induced by L. major infection away from a Th2-specific pathway to one of basal susceptibility. Immunization with pCMV-HISA70m2A dramatically reduced footpad lesions and lymph node parasite burdens relative to infected control mice. Complete absence of visceral parasite burden was observed in all 12 immunized animals but not in any of the 24 control mice. Moreover, vaccinated mice produced large amounts of IFN-γ, IL-17 and NO at 7 weeks post-infection (pi), and they showed lower arginase activity at the site of infection, lower IL-4 production and a weaker humoral immune response than infected control mice. Taken together, these results demonstrate the ability of the HISA70 vaccine to shift the murine immune response to L. major infection away from an undesirable, Th2-specific pathway to a less susceptible-like pathway involving Th1 and Th17 cytokine profiles.
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Affiliation(s)
- Gustavo Domínguez-Bernal
- Department of Animal Health, Veterinary Faculty, Complutense University of Madrid, 28040, Madrid, Spain.
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Singh N, Kumar M, Singh RK. Leishmaniasis: current status of available drugs and new potential drug targets. ASIAN PAC J TROP MED 2012; 5:485-97. [PMID: 22575984 DOI: 10.1016/s1995-7645(12)60084-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 257] [Impact Index Per Article: 21.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/15/2012] [Revised: 03/15/2012] [Accepted: 04/15/2012] [Indexed: 02/06/2023] Open
Abstract
The control of Leishmania infection relies primarily on chemotherapy till date. Resistance to pentavalent antimonials, which have been the recommended drugs to treat cutaneous and visceral leishmaniasis, is now widespread in Indian subcontinents. New drug formulations like amphotericin B, its lipid formulations, and miltefosine have shown great efficacy to treat leishmaniasis but their high cost and therapeutic complications limit their usefulness. In addition, irregular and inappropriate uses of these second line drugs in endemic regions like state of Bihar, India threaten resistance development in the parasite. In context to the limited drug options and unavailability of either preventive or prophylactic candidates, there is a pressing need to develop true antileishmanial drugs to reduce the disease burden of this debilitating endemic disease. Notwithstanding significant progress of leishmanial research during last few decades, identification and characterization of novel drugs and drug targets are far from satisfactory. This review will initially describe current drug regimens and later will provide an overview on few important biochemical and enzymatic machineries that could be utilized as putative drug targets for generation of true antileishmanial drugs.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nisha Singh
- Molecular Immunology Laboratory, Department of Biochemistry, Faculty of Science, Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi, India
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48
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Abstract
Leishmaniasis is the third most important vector-borne disease worldwide. Visceral leishmaniasis (VL) is a severe and frequently lethal protozoan disease of increasing incidence and severity due to infected human and dog migration, new geographical distribution of the insect due to global warming, coinfection with immunosuppressive diseases, and poverty. The disease is an anthroponosis in India and Central Africa and a canid zoonosis (ZVL) in the Americas, the Middle East, Central Asia, China, and the Mediterranean. The ZVL epidemic has been controlled by one or more measures including the culling of infected dogs, treatment of human cases, and insecticidal treatment of homes and dogs. However, the use of vaccines is considered the most cost-effective control tool for human and canine disease. Since the severity of the disease is related to the generation of T-cell immunosuppression, effective vaccines should be capable of sustaining or enhancing the T-cell immunity. In this review we summarize the clinical and parasitological characteristics of ZVL with special focus on the cellular and humoral canine immune response and review state-of-the-art vaccine development against human and canine VL. Experimental vaccination against leishmaniasis has evolved from the practice of leishmanization with living parasites to vaccination with crude lysates, native parasite extracts to recombinant and DNA vaccination. Although more than 30 defined vaccines have been studied in laboratory models no human formulation has been licensed so far; however three second-generation canine vaccines have already been registered. As expected for a zoonotic disease, the recent preventive vaccination of dogs in Brazil has led to a reduction in the incidence of canine and human disease. The recent identification of several Leishmania proteins with T-cell epitopes anticipates development of a multiprotein vaccine that will be capable of protecting both humans and dogs against VL.
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Affiliation(s)
- Clarisa B. Palatnik-de-Sousa
- Laboratório de Biologia e Bioquímica de Leishmania, Departamento de Microbiologia Geral, Instituto de Microbiologia Paulo de Góes, Universidade Federal do Rio de JaneiroRio de Janeiro, Brazil
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49
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Mahamdallie SS, Ready PD. No recent adaptive selection on the apyrase of Mediterranean Phlebotomus: implications for using salivary peptides to vaccinate against canine leishmaniasis. Evol Appl 2012; 5:293-305. [PMID: 25568049 PMCID: PMC3353351 DOI: 10.1111/j.1752-4571.2011.00226.x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/22/2011] [Accepted: 11/02/2011] [Indexed: 12/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Vaccine development is informed by a knowledge of genetic variation among antigen alleles, especially the distribution of positive and balancing selection in populations and species. A combined approach using population genetic and phylogenetic methods to detect selective signatures can therefore be informative for identifying vaccine candidates. Parasitic Leishmania species cause the disease leishmaniasis in humans and mammalian reservoir hosts after inoculation by female phlebotomine sandflies. Like other arthropod vectors of disease agents, sandflies use salivary peptides to counteract host haemostatic and immunomodulatory responses during bloodfeeding, and these peptides are vaccine candidates because they can protect against Leishmania infection. We detected no contemporary adaptive selection on one salivary peptide, apyrase, in 20 populations of Phlebotomus ariasi, a European vector of Leishmania infantum. Maximum likelihood branch models on a gene phylogeny showed apyrase to be a single copy in P. ariasi but an ancient duplication event associated with temporary positive selection was observed in its sister group, which contains most Mediterranean vectors of L. infantum. The absence of contemporary adaptive selection on the apyrase of P. ariasi may result from this sandfly's opportunistic feeding behaviour. Our study illustrates how the molecular population genetics of arthropods can help investigate the potential of salivary peptides for disease control and for understanding geographical variation in vector competence.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Paul D Ready
- Department of Entomology, Natural History Museum London, UK
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