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Mahmoodi S, Amirzakaria JZ, Ghasemian A. A novel multi-epitope peptide vaccine targeting immunogenic antigens of Ebola and monkeypox viruses with potential of immune responses provocation in silico. Biotechnol Appl Biochem 2024. [PMID: 39128888 DOI: 10.1002/bab.2646] [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: 04/22/2024] [Accepted: 07/10/2024] [Indexed: 08/13/2024]
Abstract
The emergence or reemergence of monkeypox (Mpox) and Ebola virus (EBOV) agents causing zoonotic diseases remains a huge threat to human health. Our study aimed at designing a multi-epitope vaccine (MEV) candidate to target both the Mpox and EBOV agents using immunoinformatics tools. Viral protein sequences were retrieved, and potential nonallergenic, nontoxic, and antigenic epitopes were obtained. Next, cytotoxic and helper T-cell (CTL and HTL, respectively) and B-cell (BCL) epitopes were predicted, and those potential epitopes were fused utilizing proper linkers. The in silico cloning and expression processes were implemented using Escherichia coli K12. The immune responses were prognosticated using the C-ImmSim server. The MEV construct (29.53 kDa) included four BCL, two CTL, and four HTL epitopes and adjuvant. The MEV traits were pertinent in terms of antigenicity, non-allergenicity, nontoxicity, physicochemical characters, and stability. The MEV candidate was also highly expressed in E. coli K12. The strong affinity of MEV-TLR3 was confirmed using molecular docking and molecular dynamics simulation analyses. Immune simulation analyses unraveled durable activation and responses of cellular and humoral arms alongside innate immune responses. The designed MEV candidate demonstrated appropriate traits and was promising in the prediction of immune responses against both Mpox and EBOV agents. Further experimental assessments of the MEV are required to verify its efficacy.
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Affiliation(s)
- Shirin Mahmoodi
- Department of Medical Biotechnology, School of Advanced Technologies in Medicine, Fasa University of Medical Sciences, Fasa, Iran
| | - Javad Zamani Amirzakaria
- Department of Plant Biotechnology, National Institute of Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology, Tehran, Iran
| | - Abdolmajid Ghasemian
- Noncommunicable Diseases Research Center, Fasa University of Medical Sciences, Fasa, Iran
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Dashti F, Raisi A, Pourali G, Razavi ZS, Ravaei F, Sadri Nahand J, Kourkinejad-Gharaei F, Mirazimi SMA, Zamani J, Tarrahimofrad H, Hashemian SMR, Mirzaei H. A computational approach to design a multiepitope vaccine against H5N1 virus. Virol J 2024; 21:67. [PMID: 38509569 PMCID: PMC10953225 DOI: 10.1186/s12985-024-02337-7] [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: 11/23/2023] [Accepted: 03/07/2024] [Indexed: 03/22/2024] Open
Abstract
Since 1997, highly pathogenic avian influenza viruses, such as H5N1, have been recognized as a possible pandemic hazard to men and the poultry business. The rapid rate of mutation of H5N1 viruses makes the whole process of designing vaccines extremely challenging. Here, we used an in silico approach to design a multi-epitope vaccine against H5N1 influenza A virus using hemagglutinin (HA) and neuraminidase (NA) antigens. B-cell epitopes, Cytotoxic T lymphocyte (CTL) and Helper T lymphocyte (HTL) were predicted via IEDB, NetMHC-4 and NetMHCII-2.3 respectively. Two adjuvants consisting of Human β-defensin-3 (HβD-3) along with pan HLA DR-binding epitope (PADRE) have been chosen to induce more immune response. Linkers including KK, AAY, HEYGAEALERAG, GPGPGPG and double EAAAK were utilized to link epitopes and adjuvants. This construct encodes a protein having 350 amino acids and 38.46 kDa molecular weight. Antigenicity of ~ 1, the allergenicity of non-allergen, toxicity of negative and solubility of appropriate were confirmed through Vaxigen, AllerTOP, ToxDL and DeepSoluE, respectively. The 3D structure of H5N1 was refined and validated with a Z-Score of - 0.87 and an overall Ramachandran of 99.7%. Docking analysis showed H5N1 could interact with TLR7 (docking score of - 374.08 and by 4 hydrogen bonds) and TLR8 (docking score of - 414.39 and by 3 hydrogen bonds). Molecular dynamics simulations results showed RMSD and RMSF of 0.25 nm and 0.2 for H5N1-TLR7 as well as RMSD and RMSF of 0.45 nm and 0.4 for H5N1-TLR8 complexes, respectively. Molecular Mechanics Poisson-Boltzmann Surface Area (MM/PBSA) confirmed stability and continuity of interaction between H5N1-TLR7 with the total binding energy of - 29.97 kJ/mol and H5N1-TLR8 with the total binding energy of - 23.9 kJ/mol. Investigating immune response simulation predicted evidence of the ability to stimulate T and B cells of the immunity system that shows the merits of this H5N1 vaccine proposed candidate for clinical trials.
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Affiliation(s)
- Fatemeh Dashti
- School of Medicine, Kashan University of Medical Sciences, Kashan, Islamic Republic of Iran
- Student Research Committee, Kashan University of Medical Sciences, Kashan, Islamic Republic of Iran
| | - Arash Raisi
- School of Medicine, Kashan University of Medical Sciences, Kashan, Islamic Republic of Iran
- Student Research Committee, Kashan University of Medical Sciences, Kashan, Islamic Republic of Iran
| | - Ghazaleh Pourali
- Metabolic Syndrome Research Center, Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, Mashhad, Islamic Republic of Iran
| | - Zahra Sadat Razavi
- School of Medicine, Kashan University of Medical Sciences, Kashan, Islamic Republic of Iran
- Student Research Committee, Kashan University of Medical Sciences, Kashan, Islamic Republic of Iran
| | - Fatemeh Ravaei
- School of Medicine, Kashan University of Medical Sciences, Kashan, Islamic Republic of Iran
- Student Research Committee, Kashan University of Medical Sciences, Kashan, Islamic Republic of Iran
| | - Javid Sadri Nahand
- Infectious and Tropical Diseases Research Center, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Tabriz, Islamic Republic of Iran
| | - Fatemeh Kourkinejad-Gharaei
- Student Research Committee, Kashan University of Medical Sciences, Kashan, Islamic Republic of Iran
- Department of Infectious Diseases, Emam Reza Hospital, Sirjan School of Medical Sciences, Sirjan, Islamic Republic of Iran
| | - Seyed Mohammad Ali Mirazimi
- School of Medicine, Kashan University of Medical Sciences, Kashan, Islamic Republic of Iran
- Student Research Committee, Kashan University of Medical Sciences, Kashan, Islamic Republic of Iran
| | - Javad Zamani
- Department of Animal Biotechnology, National Institute of Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology (NIGEB), Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran
| | - Hossein Tarrahimofrad
- Department of Animal Biotechnology, National Institute of Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology (NIGEB), Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran.
| | - Seyed Mohammad Reza Hashemian
- Chronic Respiratory Diseases Research Center (CRDRC), National Research Institute of Tuberculosis and Lung Diseases (NRITLD), Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran.
| | - Hamed Mirzaei
- Research Center for Biochemistry and Nutrition in Metabolic Diseases, Institute for Basic Sciences, Kashan University of Medical Sciences, Kashan, Islamic Republic of Iran.
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Ma S, Zhu F, Xu Y, Wen H, Rao M, Zhang P, Peng W, Cui Y, Yang H, Tan C, Chen J, Pan P. Development of a novel multi-epitope mRNA vaccine candidate to combat HMPV virus. Hum Vaccin Immunother 2023; 19:2293300. [PMID: 38172569 PMCID: PMC10824151 DOI: 10.1080/21645515.2023.2293300] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/15/2023] [Accepted: 12/06/2023] [Indexed: 01/05/2024] Open
Abstract
Human metapneumovirus (HMPV) is one of the main pathogens causing severe respiratory infections in children, as a common cause of immunodeficiency-related deaths in children and elderly individuals, the prevalence of HMPV has been showing an increasing trend during the last years. However, no vaccines or effective treatment plans are available currently. In this present, based on candidate proteins highly associated with viral virulence and has promising protective potential, we screened for immunodominant cytotoxic T cells, helper T cells, and Linear B-cell epitopes from the most promising candidate Fusion protein, together with G, SH, M, and M2. All epitopes were predicted to have strong antigenicity by Vaxijen and pose no potential toxicity, allergenicity, or hormonology to human proteins by Toxinpred, Allerpred, and Blast analysis, meanwhile, high conservancy is demanded to cover different subtypes. adjuvants β-defensin II and Pam2Cys was attached with EAAAK linkers to improve vaccine's efficiency. Then, calculation of physicochemical properties proved the protein vaccine as a product can stably exist in the human body. Besides, we assessed the docking between the vaccine and immune receptors to evaluate its ability to stimulate immune responses, and the dynamic simulation further confirmed that the vaccine can tightly bind with immune receptors, which approved that the construction has the potential to induce strong humoral and cellular immune response. Finally, the vaccine was constructed into a multi-epitope mRNA vaccine, the immune simulations suggest that this is a vaccine candidate for controlling HMPV infection.
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Affiliation(s)
- Shiyang Ma
- Department of Respiratory Medicine, National Key Clinical Specialty, Branch of National Clinical Research Center for Respiratory Disease, Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha, Hunan, China
- Center of Respiratory Medicine, Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha, Hunan, China
- Clinical Research Center for Respiratory Diseases in Hunan Province, Changsha, Hunan, China
- Hunan Engineering Research Center for Intelligent Diagnosis and Treatment of Respiratory Disease, Changsha, Hunan, China
- National Clinical Research Center for Geriatric Disorders, Xiangya Hospital, Changsha, Hunan, China
| | - Fei Zhu
- Department of Respiratory Medicine, National Key Clinical Specialty, Branch of National Clinical Research Center for Respiratory Disease, Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha, Hunan, China
- Center of Respiratory Medicine, Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha, Hunan, China
- Clinical Research Center for Respiratory Diseases in Hunan Province, Changsha, Hunan, China
- Hunan Engineering Research Center for Intelligent Diagnosis and Treatment of Respiratory Disease, Changsha, Hunan, China
- National Clinical Research Center for Geriatric Disorders, Xiangya Hospital, Changsha, Hunan, China
| | - Yizhong Xu
- Department of Respiratory Medicine, National Key Clinical Specialty, Branch of National Clinical Research Center for Respiratory Disease, Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha, Hunan, China
- Center of Respiratory Medicine, Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha, Hunan, China
- Clinical Research Center for Respiratory Diseases in Hunan Province, Changsha, Hunan, China
- Hunan Engineering Research Center for Intelligent Diagnosis and Treatment of Respiratory Disease, Changsha, Hunan, China
- National Clinical Research Center for Geriatric Disorders, Xiangya Hospital, Changsha, Hunan, China
| | - Haicheng Wen
- National Clinical Research Center for Geriatric Disorders, Xiangya Hospital, Changsha, Hunan, China
| | - Mingjun Rao
- Department of Respiratory Medicine, National Key Clinical Specialty, Branch of National Clinical Research Center for Respiratory Disease, Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha, Hunan, China
- Center of Respiratory Medicine, Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha, Hunan, China
- Clinical Research Center for Respiratory Diseases in Hunan Province, Changsha, Hunan, China
- Hunan Engineering Research Center for Intelligent Diagnosis and Treatment of Respiratory Disease, Changsha, Hunan, China
- National Clinical Research Center for Geriatric Disorders, Xiangya Hospital, Changsha, Hunan, China
| | - Peipei Zhang
- Department of Respiratory Medicine, National Key Clinical Specialty, Branch of National Clinical Research Center for Respiratory Disease, Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha, Hunan, China
- Center of Respiratory Medicine, Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha, Hunan, China
- Clinical Research Center for Respiratory Diseases in Hunan Province, Changsha, Hunan, China
- Hunan Engineering Research Center for Intelligent Diagnosis and Treatment of Respiratory Disease, Changsha, Hunan, China
- National Clinical Research Center for Geriatric Disorders, Xiangya Hospital, Changsha, Hunan, China
| | - Wenzhong Peng
- Department of Respiratory Medicine, National Key Clinical Specialty, Branch of National Clinical Research Center for Respiratory Disease, Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha, Hunan, China
- Center of Respiratory Medicine, Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha, Hunan, China
- Clinical Research Center for Respiratory Diseases in Hunan Province, Changsha, Hunan, China
- Hunan Engineering Research Center for Intelligent Diagnosis and Treatment of Respiratory Disease, Changsha, Hunan, China
- National Clinical Research Center for Geriatric Disorders, Xiangya Hospital, Changsha, Hunan, China
| | - Yanhui Cui
- Department of Respiratory Medicine, National Key Clinical Specialty, Branch of National Clinical Research Center for Respiratory Disease, Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha, Hunan, China
- Center of Respiratory Medicine, Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha, Hunan, China
- Clinical Research Center for Respiratory Diseases in Hunan Province, Changsha, Hunan, China
- Hunan Engineering Research Center for Intelligent Diagnosis and Treatment of Respiratory Disease, Changsha, Hunan, China
- National Clinical Research Center for Geriatric Disorders, Xiangya Hospital, Changsha, Hunan, China
| | - Hang Yang
- Department of Respiratory Medicine, National Key Clinical Specialty, Branch of National Clinical Research Center for Respiratory Disease, Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha, Hunan, China
- Center of Respiratory Medicine, Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha, Hunan, China
- Clinical Research Center for Respiratory Diseases in Hunan Province, Changsha, Hunan, China
- Hunan Engineering Research Center for Intelligent Diagnosis and Treatment of Respiratory Disease, Changsha, Hunan, China
- National Clinical Research Center for Geriatric Disorders, Xiangya Hospital, Changsha, Hunan, China
| | - Caixia Tan
- Department of Infection Control Center of Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha, Hunan, China
| | - Jie Chen
- Department of Respiratory Medicine, National Key Clinical Specialty, Branch of National Clinical Research Center for Respiratory Disease, Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha, Hunan, China
- Center of Respiratory Medicine, Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha, Hunan, China
- Clinical Research Center for Respiratory Diseases in Hunan Province, Changsha, Hunan, China
- Hunan Engineering Research Center for Intelligent Diagnosis and Treatment of Respiratory Disease, Changsha, Hunan, China
- National Clinical Research Center for Geriatric Disorders, Xiangya Hospital, Changsha, Hunan, China
| | - Pinhua Pan
- Department of Respiratory Medicine, National Key Clinical Specialty, Branch of National Clinical Research Center for Respiratory Disease, Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha, Hunan, China
- Center of Respiratory Medicine, Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha, Hunan, China
- Clinical Research Center for Respiratory Diseases in Hunan Province, Changsha, Hunan, China
- Hunan Engineering Research Center for Intelligent Diagnosis and Treatment of Respiratory Disease, Changsha, Hunan, China
- National Clinical Research Center for Geriatric Disorders, Xiangya Hospital, Changsha, Hunan, China
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Keshri AK, Kaur R, Rawat SS, Arora N, Pandey RK, Kumbhar BV, Mishra A, Tripathi S, Prasad A. Designing and development of multi-epitope chimeric vaccine against Helicobacter pylori by exploring its entire immunogenic epitopes: an immunoinformatic approach. BMC Bioinformatics 2023; 24:358. [PMID: 37740175 PMCID: PMC10517479 DOI: 10.1186/s12859-023-05454-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/16/2023] [Accepted: 08/25/2023] [Indexed: 09/24/2023] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Helicobacter pylori is a prominent causative agent of gastric ulceration, gastric adenocarcinoma and gastric lymphoma and have been categorised as a group 1 carcinogen by WHO. The treatment of H. pylori with proton pump inhibitors and antibiotics is effective but also leads to increased antibiotic resistance, patient dissatisfaction, and chances of reinfection. Therefore, an effective vaccine remains the most suitable prophylactic option for mass administration against this infection. RESULTS We modelled a multi-chimera subunit vaccine candidate against H. pylori by screening its secretory/outer membrane proteins. We identified B-cell, MHC-II and IFN-γ-inducing epitopes within these proteins. The population coverage, antigenicity, physiochemical properties and secondary structure were evaluated using different in-silico tools, which showed it can be a good and effective vaccine candidate. The 3-D construct was predicted, refined, validated and docked with TLRs. Finally, we performed the molecular docking/simulation and immune simulation studies to validate the stability of interaction and in-silico cloned the epitope sequences into a pET28b(+) plasmid vector. CONCLUSION The multiepitope-constructed vaccine contains T- cells, B-cells along with IFN-γ inducing epitopes that have the property to generate good cell-mediated immunity and humoral response. This vaccine can protect most of the world's population. The docking study and immune simulation revealed a good binding with TLRs and cell-mediated and humoral immune responses, respectively. Overall, we attempted to design a multiepitope vaccine and expect this vaccine will show an encouraging result against H. pylori infection in in-vivo use.
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Affiliation(s)
- Anand K Keshri
- School of Basic Sciences, Indian Institute of Technology Mandi, Himachal Pradesh, Mandi, 175005, India
| | - Rimanpreet Kaur
- School of Basic Sciences, Indian Institute of Technology Mandi, Himachal Pradesh, Mandi, 175005, India
| | - Suraj S Rawat
- School of Basic Sciences, Indian Institute of Technology Mandi, Himachal Pradesh, Mandi, 175005, India
| | - Naina Arora
- School of Basic Sciences, Indian Institute of Technology Mandi, Himachal Pradesh, Mandi, 175005, India
| | - Rajan K Pandey
- Department of Medical Biochemistry and Biophysics, Karolinska Institute, 17177, Stockholm, Sweden
| | | | - Amit Mishra
- Cellular and Molecular Neurobiology Unit, Indian Institute of Technology Jodhpur, Jodhpur, Rajasthan, 342011, India
| | - Shweta Tripathi
- School of Basic Sciences, Indian Institute of Technology Mandi, Himachal Pradesh, Mandi, 175005, India.
| | - Amit Prasad
- School of Basic Sciences, Indian Institute of Technology Mandi, Himachal Pradesh, Mandi, 175005, India.
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Dinata R, Baindara P. Laterosporulin25: A probiotically produced, novel defensin-like bacteriocin and its immunogenic properties. Int Immunopharmacol 2023; 121:110500. [PMID: 37352569 DOI: 10.1016/j.intimp.2023.110500] [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: 03/21/2023] [Revised: 06/01/2023] [Accepted: 06/11/2023] [Indexed: 06/25/2023]
Abstract
Although multiple vaccines have been developed against infectious diseases, the rapid emergence of new pathogens develops an urgent need for novel strategies to combat infectious diseases. Antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) are excellent agents to fight against infectious diseases having unique multiple mechanisms of action against various pathogens. Apart from the direct applications, AMPs can also be developed as subunit vaccines or could be used as a highly immunogenic carrier protein with highly antigenic but non-immunogenic antigens. Here in the present study, we have identified a novel defensin-like bacteriocin, laterosporulin25 (LS25) upon genome mining of Brevibacillus laterosporus DSM25, a probiotic bacterial strain. By using immunoinformatic tools, we have studied the immunogenic and physiochemical properties of LS25. LS25 is characterized as defensin-like bacteriocin, having 51 amino acids and a molecular weight of 5862.7 Da. The modeled tertiary structure of LS25 is docked with TLR3 and TLR4-MD2 complex to confirm the facilitation of induced immune response that is further validated using molecular dynamics simulations and In-silico immune stimulations. Overall, detailed immunoinformatics analysis suggested LS25 as a potential candidate to be used as an adjuvant or carrier protein for subunit vaccine development, however, further in-vitro and in-vivo experiments are essential to validate its potential.
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Affiliation(s)
- Roy Dinata
- Department of Zoology, Mizoram University, Aizawl, Mizoram 796004, India
| | - Piyush Baindara
- Department of Radiation Oncology, School of Medicine, University of Missouri, Columbia, MO 65211, USA.
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Gouda AM, Soltan MA, Abd-Elghany K, Sileem AE, Elnahas HM, Ateya MAM, Elbatreek MH, Darwish KM, Bogari HA, Lashkar MO, Aldurdunji MM, Elhady SS, Ahmad TA, Said AM. Integration of immunoinformatics and cheminformatics to design and evaluate a multitope vaccine against Klebsiella pneumoniae and Pseudomonas aeruginosa coinfection. Front Mol Biosci 2023; 10:1123411. [PMID: 36911530 PMCID: PMC9999731 DOI: 10.3389/fmolb.2023.1123411] [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: 12/14/2022] [Accepted: 01/26/2023] [Indexed: 02/16/2023] Open
Abstract
Introduction: Klebsiella pneumoniae (K. pneumoniae) and Pseudomonas aeruginosa (P. aeruginosa) are the most common Gram-negative bacteria associated with pneumonia and coinfecting the same patient. Despite their high virulence, there is no effective vaccine against them. Methods: In the current study, the screening of several proteins from both pathogens highlighted FepA and OmpK35 for K. pneumonia in addition to HasR and OprF from P. aeruginosa as promising candidates for epitope mapping. Those four proteins were linked to form a multitope vaccine, that was formulated with a suitable adjuvant, and PADRE peptides to finalize the multitope vaccine construct. The final vaccine's physicochemical features, antigenicity, toxicity, allergenicity, and solubility were evaluated for use in humans. Results: The output of the computational analysis revealed that the designed multitope construct has passed these assessments with satisfactory scores where, as the last stage, we performed a molecular docking study between the potential vaccine construct and K. pneumonia associated immune receptors, TLR4 and TLR2, showing affinitive to both targets with preferentiality for the TLR4 receptor protein. Validation of the docking studies has proceeded through molecular dynamics simulation, which estimated a strong binding and supported the nomination of the designed vaccine as a putative solution for K. pneumoniae and P. aeruginosa coinfection. Here, we describe the approach for the design and assessment of our potential vaccine.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ahmed M Gouda
- Department of Pharmacy Practice, Faculty of Pharmacy, Zagazig University, Zagazig, Egypt
| | - Mohamed A Soltan
- Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Faculty of Pharmacy, Sinai University-Kantara Branch, Ismailia, Egypt
| | - Khalid Abd-Elghany
- Department of Microbiology-Microbial Biotechnology, Egyptian Drug Authority, Giza, Egypt
| | - Ashraf E Sileem
- Department of Chest Diseases, Faculty of Medicine, Zagazig University, Zagazig, Egypt
| | - Hanan M Elnahas
- Department of Pharmaceutical and Industrial Pharmacy, Faculty of Pharmacy, Zagazig University, Zagazig, Egypt
| | | | - Mahmoud H Elbatreek
- Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, Faculty of Pharmacy, Zagazig University, Zagazig, Egypt
| | - Khaled M Darwish
- Department of Medicinal Chemistry, Faculty of Pharmacy, Suez Canal University, Ismailia, Egypt
| | - Hanin A Bogari
- Department of Pharmacy Practice, Faculty of Pharmacy, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia
| | - Manar O Lashkar
- Department of Pharmacy Practice, Faculty of Pharmacy, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia
| | - Mohammed M Aldurdunji
- Department of Clinical Pharmacy, College of Pharmacy, Umm Al-Qura University, Makkah, Saudi Arabia
| | - Sameh S Elhady
- Department of Natural Products, Faculty of Pharmacy, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.,Center for Artificial Intelligence in Precision Medicines, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia
| | - Tarek A Ahmad
- Library Sector, Bibliotheca Alexandrina, Alexandria, Egypt
| | - Ahmed Mohamed Said
- Department of Chest Diseases, Faculty of Medicine, Zagazig University, Zagazig, Egypt
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Immunomodulatory effects of β-defensin 2 on macrophages induced immuno-upregulation and their antitumor function in breast cancer. BMC Immunol 2022; 23:53. [PMID: 36324077 PMCID: PMC9632142 DOI: 10.1186/s12865-022-00527-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/16/2022] [Accepted: 09/27/2022] [Indexed: 11/05/2022] Open
Abstract
Background Macrophages are mononuclear CD34+ antigen-presenting cells of defense mechanism and play dual roles in tumor burden. The immunomodulatory and their antitumor function of β-defensin 2 is still unclear, despite the accumulating evidence of the response in infection. So, the aim of present study is to elucidate the role of β-defensin 2 on the level of ROS, cytokines, chemokine expression in macrophages and antitumor function in breast cancer. Method Swiss albino mice were used to harvest PEC macrophages and C127i breast cancer cells line for tumor model was used in this study. Macrophages were harvested and characterized by flow-cytometry using F4/80 and CD11c antibodies. MTT was performed to estimate cytotoxicity and dose optimization of β-defensin 2. Oxidative stress was analyzed by H2O2 and NO estimation followed by iNOS quantified by q-PCR. Cytokines and chemokines estimation was done using q-PCR. Co-culture experiment was performed to study anti-tumor function using PI for cell cycle, Annexin –V and CFSE analysis for cell proliferation. Results PEC harvested macrophages were characterized by flow-cytometry using F4/80 and CD11c antibodies with the purity of 8% pure population of macrophages. It was found that 99% of cells viable at the maximum dose of 100 ng/ml of β-defensin 2 in MTT. Levels of NO and H2O2 were found to be decreased in β-defensin 2 as compared to control. Expression of cytokines of IFN-γ, IL-1α, TNF-α, TGF-βwas found to be increased while IL-3 was decreased in β-defensin 2 group as compared to control. Levels of chemokines CXCL-1, CXCL-5 and CCL5 increased in treated macrophages while CCL24 and CXCL-15 expression decreased. Adhesion receptor (CD32) and fusion receptor (CD204) were decreased in the β-defensin 2 group as compared to control. Anti-tumor experiment was performed using co-culture experiment apoptosis (Annexin-V) was induced, cell cycle arrest in phage and cell proliferation of C127i cells was decreased. Conclusion This is the first report of β-defensin 2 modulates macrophage immunomodulatory and their antitumor function in breast cancer. β-defensin 2 as a new therapeutic target for immunotherapy as an adjuvant in vaccines.
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Immunoinformatics-guided designing of epitope-based subunit vaccine from Pilus assembly protein of Acinetobacter baumannii bacteria. J Immunol Methods 2022; 508:113325. [PMID: 35908655 DOI: 10.1016/j.jim.2022.113325] [Citation(s) in RCA: 38] [Impact Index Per Article: 19.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/25/2022] [Revised: 07/05/2022] [Accepted: 07/25/2022] [Indexed: 11/23/2022]
Abstract
Acinetobacter baumannii, a prominent pathogen responsible for chronic infections in the blood, urinary tract, and lungs, has a high mortality due to its virulence and limited preventive methods. The present study aims to characterize the pilus assembly protein of A. baumannii to offer leads for epitope-based vaccine development. FilF is the putative pilus assembly protein that reportedly plays a supreme character in the virulence of this WHO-listed ESKAPE bacterium. Implementing various bioinformatics tools, led to the recognition of many antigenic B and T cell epitopes. Most promising B and T-cell epitopes were selected based on their binding efficiency with commonly occurring MHC alleles. Finally, we stepped down to fourteen protective antigenic peptides. These epitopes were also revealed to be non-allergenic and non-toxic. As a result, a vaccine chimera was created by linking these epitopes with appropriate linkers and adjuvant such as β-defensins. Furthermore, homology modeling and validation were carried out, with the modeled structure being employed for molecular docking with the immunological receptor (TLR-4) found on lymphocyte cells. As a result of the molecular dynamics simulation, the interaction between human TLR-4 and the multi-epitope vaccine sequence was stable. Finally, in silico cloning and immune simulation were carried out to see the efficacy of the construct vaccine. This is the first study targeting the pilus assembly protein from A. baumannii to identify novel epitopes that hold potential for further experimental design of multi-peptide vaccine construct against the pathogen.
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Maltsev D, Stefanyshyn V. The efficacy of combined immunotherapy with Propes and Inflamafertin in adult patients with genetic deficiency of the folate cycle and selective deficiency of NK and NKT cells. Immunol Suppl 2022; 167:443-450. [PMID: 35866691 DOI: 10.1111/imm.13548] [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: 03/14/2022] [Accepted: 07/15/2022] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Abstract
BACKGROUND The purpose of the present study is to evaluate the efficacy of combination immunotherapy with Propes and Inflamafertin in GDFC adults with NK and/or NKT cell deficiency. METHODS This single-center, retrospective, controlled, non-randomized clinical trial analyzed medical records of 212 adult GDFC patients aged 19 to 50 years (study group, SG). SG received Propes at a dose of 2 mL intramuscularly every other day at night for 3 consecutive months and Inflamafertin at a dose of 2 mL IM every other day at night for 3 consecutive months in rotation with Propes. The control group involved 34 patients with GDFC who followed the same age and gender distribution pattern but did not receive immunotherapy. RESULTS The number of NK cells reached the lower limit of normal in 95 out of 131 patients (72% of cases) with baseline deficiency of these lymphocytes. The average number of NK cells in the blood of SG patients almost doubled during the 3-month course of immunotherapy (p ˂ 0.05; Z ˂ Z0.05 ). However, it almost returned to initial levels 2 months following discontinuation of the immunotherapeutic agents (p ˃ 0.05; Z ˃ Z0.05 ). CONCLUSION Combination immunotherapy with Propes and Inflamafertin is an effective strategy for the treatment of immunodeficiency caused by GDFC in adult patients.
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Affiliation(s)
- Dmitry Maltsev
- Laboratory of Immunology and Molecular Biology, Research Institute of Experimental and Clinical Medicine, O.O. Bogomolets National Medical University, Kyiv, Ukraine
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10
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Du YB, Wang XF, Liu XJ, Li Y, Miao QF, Jiang M, Sheng WJ, Zhen YS. The recombinant defensin/HSA fusion protein that inhibits NF-κb associated with intensive macropinocytosis shows potent efficacy against pancreatic cancer. Biochem Pharmacol 2022; 201:115057. [PMID: 35489393 DOI: 10.1016/j.bcp.2022.115057] [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: 02/04/2022] [Revised: 04/11/2022] [Accepted: 04/19/2022] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Abstract
KRAS mutation and NF-κB both play crucial role in pancreatic cancer; in addition, defensin, the peptide mediator in innate immunity, can inhibit NF-κB. Assuming a strategy that targets both NF-κB and concomitantly the mutated KRAS indirectly via intensive macropinocytosis, we designed and generated a recombinant protein DF2-HSA which consists of two molecules of human beta-defensin 2 (HBD2) and a moiety of human serum albumin (HSA). As shown, the recombinant protein DF2-HSA markedly down-regulated NF-κB in both KRAS mutant MIA PaCa-2 cells and wild type BxPC-3 cells. Determined by confocal microscopy, the uptake of DF2-HSA in MIA PaCa-2 cells was more intense than that in BxPC-3 cells. The uptake was blocked by the specific inhibitor EIPA, indicating that DF2-HSA internalized via macropinocytosis. DF2-HSA displayed more potent cytotoxicity to cancer cells than HBD2. DF2-HSA induced apoptosis in cancer cells. Notably, DF2-HSA inhibited tumor cell spheroid formation, an effect comparable to that of salinomycin. DF2-HSA inhibited tumor cell migration and invasion. As detected with scanning electron microscopy, DF2-HSA strongly depleted filopodia on cell surface; and salinomycin induced similar changes. By in vivo imaging, DF2-HSA displayed intense tumor-site accumulation and lasting retention for over 14 days; however, HBD2 showed much less tumor-site accumulation and a shorter retention time for only 24 h. DF2-HSA suppressed the growth of pancreatic cancer MIA PaCa-2 xenograft in athymic mice; and its combination with gemcitabine achieved higher antitumor efficacy. In summary, the recombinant defensin/HSA fusion protein that inhibits NF-κb associated with intensive macropinocytosis is highly effective against pancreatic cancer.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yi-Bo Du
- Institute of Medicinal Biotechnology, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, Beijing 100050, China
| | | | - Xiu-Jun Liu
- Institute of Medicinal Biotechnology, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, Beijing 100050, China
| | - Yi Li
- Institute of Medicinal Biotechnology, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, Beijing 100050, China
| | - Qing-Fang Miao
- Institute of Medicinal Biotechnology, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, Beijing 100050, China
| | - Min Jiang
- Institute of Medicinal Biotechnology, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, Beijing 100050, China
| | - Wei-Jin Sheng
- Institute of Medicinal Biotechnology, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, Beijing 100050, China.
| | - Yong-Su Zhen
- Institute of Medicinal Biotechnology, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, Beijing 100050, China.
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11
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Damas MSF, Mazur FG, Freire CCDM, da Cunha AF, Pranchevicius MCDS. A Systematic Immuno-Informatic Approach to Design a Multiepitope-Based Vaccine Against Emerging Multiple Drug Resistant Serratia marcescens. Front Immunol 2022; 13:768569. [PMID: 35371033 PMCID: PMC8967166 DOI: 10.3389/fimmu.2022.768569] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/31/2021] [Accepted: 02/14/2022] [Indexed: 11/24/2022] Open
Abstract
Serratia marcescens is now an important opportunistic pathogen that can cause serious infections in hospitalized or immunocompromised patients. Here, we used extensive bioinformatic analyses based on reverse vaccinology and subtractive proteomics-based approach to predict potential vaccine candidates against S. marcescens. We analyzed the complete proteome sequence of 49 isolate of Serratia marcescens and identified 5 that were conserved proteins, non-homologous from human and gut flora, extracellular or exported to the outer membrane, and antigenic. The identified proteins were used to select 5 CTL, 12 HTL, and 12 BCL epitopes antigenic, non-allergenic, conserved, hydrophilic, and non-toxic. In addition, HTL epitopes were able to induce interferon-gamma immune response. The selected peptides were used to design 4 multi-epitope vaccines constructs (SMV1, SMV2, SMV3 and SMV4) with immune-modulating adjuvants, PADRE sequence, and linkers. Peptide cleavage analysis showed that antigen vaccines are processed and presented via of MHC class molecule. Several physiochemical and immunological analyses revealed that all multiepitope vaccines were non-allergenic, stable, hydrophilic, and soluble and induced the immunity with high antigenicity. The secondary structure analysis revealed the designed vaccines contain mainly coil structure and alpha helix structures. 3D analyses showed high-quality structure. Molecular docking analyses revealed SMV4 as the best vaccine construct among the four constructed vaccines, demonstrating high affinity with the immune receptor. Molecular dynamics simulation confirmed the low deformability and stability of the vaccine candidate. Discontinuous epitope residues analyses of SMV4 revealed that they are flexible and can interact with antibodies. In silico immune simulation indicated that the designed SMV4 vaccine triggers an effective immune response. In silico codon optimization and cloning in expression vector indicate that SMV4 vaccine can be efficiently expressed in E. coli system. Overall, we showed that SMV4 multi-epitope vaccine successfully elicited antigen-specific humoral and cellular immune responses and may be a potential vaccine candidate against S. marcescens. Further experimental validations could confirm its exact efficacy, the safety and immunogenicity profile. Our findings bring a valuable addition to the development of new strategies to prevent and control the spread of multidrug-resistant Gram-negative bacteria with high clinical relevance.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Fernando Gabriel Mazur
- Departamento de Genética e Evolução, Universidade Federal de São Carlos, São Carlos, Brazil
| | | | | | - Maria-Cristina da Silva Pranchevicius
- Departamento de Genética e Evolução, Universidade Federal de São Carlos, São Carlos, Brazil
- Centro de Ciências Biológicas e da Saúde, Biodiversidade Tropical – BIOTROP, Universidade Federal de São Carlos, São Carlos, Brazil
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12
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Li S, Li H, Xu Y, Ning W, Hu S, Wei S, Song H, Sun J, Ziebolz D, Schmalz G, Hu X, Liu M. Implications of Human Antimicrobial Peptide Defensin Beta-1 in Clinical Oral Squamous Cell Carcinoma Patients via an Integrated Bioinformatics Approach. COMPUTATIONAL AND MATHEMATICAL METHODS IN MEDICINE 2022; 2022:2203615. [PMID: 35222682 PMCID: PMC8881164 DOI: 10.1155/2022/2203615] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/12/2021] [Revised: 12/31/2021] [Accepted: 01/20/2022] [Indexed: 02/08/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND The human antimicrobial peptide defensin beta 1 (DEFB1) has been found to play antimicrobial and anti-inflammatory roles in oral diseases; however, its tumor-regulating role in oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) has not yet been researched by using an integrative bioinformatics approach. OBJECTIVE To investigate the regulating mechanisms of the DEFB1 gene in OSCC in terms of its expression patterns, prognostic values, biological functions, and implication for tumor immunity. METHODS The DEFB1 gene expression pattern and regulatory involvement in OSCC were investigated using publically accessible data from TCGA database. R software tools and public web servers were utilized to conduct statistical analysis of data from cancer and noncancerous samples. RESULTS DEFB1 was found to be significantly downregulated in OSCC tumor samples compared with healthy control oral samples. The DEFB1 gene was found associated with the prognostic outcomes of OSCC, and its upregulation represented better survival outcome. Gene set enrichment analysis (GSEA) results showed that DEFB1-significantly correlated genes were mainly enriched in four signaling pathways mediating the antitumor role of DEFB1 in OSCC, including extracellular matrix-related pathway, RTK/PI3K/AKT/mTOR pathway, keratinization, and cytokine-related pathway. The gene-gene interaction network showed that DEFB1 was closely correlated with several genes, for example, CCR6 (C-C motif chemokine receptor 6), CXCL1 (C-X-C motif chemokine ligand 1), MAP4K2 (mitogen-activated protein kinase kinase kinase kinase 2), PTGER3 (prostaglandin E receptor 3), and MMP7 (matrix metallopeptidase 7). Moreover, DEFB1 was found to be involved in the tumor immunity of OSCC by regulating the function of tumor macrophage cells, mast cells, T cells, and NK cells. CONCLUSIONS Given the dysregulation, prognostic value, and tumor progression-related biological pathway alteration, indicating the tumor immune-modulatory role of DEFB1 in OSCC, the DEFB1 gene should be regarded as a potential therapeutic target for treating oral cancer.
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Affiliation(s)
- Simin Li
- Stomatological Hospital, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou 510280, China
| | - Hu Li
- Department of Rehabilitation, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Shandong First Medical University, Taian, Shandong Province 271000, China
| | - Yuzhen Xu
- Department of Rehabilitation, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Shandong First Medical University, Taian, Shandong Province 271000, China
| | - Wanchen Ning
- Stomatological Hospital, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou 510280, China
| | - Shaonan Hu
- Innovation Center Computer Assisted Surgery (ICCAS), Leipzig University, Semmelweisstraße 14, Leipzig 04103, Germany
| | - Shanzun Wei
- Department of Urology, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu 610000, China
| | - Hongning Song
- Department of Stomatology, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Shandong First Medical University, Taian, Shandong Province 271000, China
| | - Jianghe Sun
- Department of Stomatology, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Shandong First Medical University, Taian, Shandong Province 271000, China
| | - Dirk Ziebolz
- Department of Cariology, Endodontology and Periodontology, University of Leipzig, 04103 Leipzig, Germany
| | - Gerhard Schmalz
- Department of Cariology, Endodontology and Periodontology, University of Leipzig, 04103 Leipzig, Germany
| | - Xianda Hu
- Laboratory of Molecular Cell Biology, Beijing Tibetan Hospital, China Tibetology Research Center, 218 Anwaixiaoguanbeili Street, Chaoyang, Beijing 100029, China
| | - Min Liu
- Department of Stomatology, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Shandong First Medical University, Taian, Shandong Province 271000, China
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13
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Sharma A, Pal S, Panwar A, Kumar S, Kumar A. In-silico immunoinformatic analysis of SARS-CoV-2 virus for the development of putative vaccine construct. Immunobiology 2021; 226:152134. [PMID: 34474252 PMCID: PMC8404695 DOI: 10.1016/j.imbio.2021.152134] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/12/2021] [Revised: 05/26/2021] [Accepted: 08/24/2021] [Indexed: 12/24/2022]
Abstract
COVID-19 (CoronaVirus disease 2019) is caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus (severe acute respiratory syndrome corona virus 2). SARS-CoV-2 virus is highly contagious and affects the human respiratory tract resulting in symptoms such as high fever, body ache, cough, dysfunctions of tastebuds and smelling sense of body. The objective of the present study involves immunoinformatic analysis to predict COVID-19 protein for vaccine construct based on the genomic information SARS-CoV-2 virus. At present, as per WHO estimates, around 133 COVID-19 novel vaccines under development. Three amino acid sequences of SARS-CoV-2 were retrieved from the NCBI database for the analysis of vaccine construct. This study involves computational and immunoinformatic methods. The Immunoinformatic tools used in the present study are NetCTL server, IFN epitope server, Toxin PRED, BCPred, CTL + HTL + ADJUVANTS + LINKERS, AlgPredserver, VaxiJenserver, ProtParam to predict vaccine construct. The secondary and tertiary structure prediction is done by PSIPRED, I-TASSER, Galaxy refine, prosA + Ramachandran. Finally, docking of the vaccine constructs and ligand was done with the help of Cluspro 2.0. C-ImmSimm webserver to simulate the potential vaccine construct. The present study demonstrated three potential Vaccine constructs for the SARS-CoV-2 virus, which were docked with TLR8 (Toll-likereceptor8). Interestingly from these, all constructs one having a high potential for the inhibition effect of the SARS-CoV-2virus. Immunological simulation data shows significant elevated amount of memory B cell; also, the high response was seen in TH(Helper) and TC(cytotoxic) cell population from the vaccine construct proposed in the current study. Hence, these constructs are suitable vaccine candidates that might be useful in developing a novel vaccine.
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Affiliation(s)
- Abhishek Sharma
- Centre for Systems Biology and Bioinformatics, Panjab University, Chandigarh 160014, India
| | - Surinder Pal
- Centre for Systems Biology and Bioinformatics, Panjab University, Chandigarh 160014, India
| | - Anil Panwar
- Centre for Systems Biology and Bioinformatics, Panjab University, Chandigarh 160014, India
| | - Suresh Kumar
- University School of Biotechnology, Guru Gobind Singh Indraprastha University, Dwarka, Sector 16C, New Delhi 110075, India.
| | - Ashok Kumar
- Centre for Systems Biology and Bioinformatics, Panjab University, Chandigarh 160014, India.
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14
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Bharucha JP, Sun L, Lu W, Gartner S, Garzino-Demo A. Human Beta-Defensin 2 and 3 Inhibit HIV-1 Replication in Macrophages. Front Cell Infect Microbiol 2021; 11:535352. [PMID: 34277460 PMCID: PMC8281893 DOI: 10.3389/fcimb.2021.535352] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/15/2020] [Accepted: 06/17/2021] [Indexed: 12/26/2022] Open
Abstract
Human beta-defensins (hBDs) are broad-spectrum antimicrobial peptides, secreted by epithelial cells of the skin and mucosae, and astrocytes, which we and others have shown to inhibit HIV-1 in primary CD4+ T cells. Although loss of CD4+ T cells contributes to mucosal immune dysfunction, macrophages are a major source of persistence and spread of HIV and also contribute to the development of various HIV-associated complications. We hypothesized that, besides T cells, hBDs could protect macrophages from HIV. Our data in primary human monocyte-derived macrophages (MDM) in vitro show that hBD2 and hBD3 inhibit HIV replication in a dose-dependent manner. We determined that hBD2 neither alters surface expression of HIV receptors nor induces expression of anti-HIV cytokines or beta-chemokines in MDM. Studies using a G-protein signaling antagonist in a single-cycle reporter virus system showed that hBD2 suppresses HIV at an early post-entry stage via G-protein coupled receptor (GPCR)-mediated signaling. We find that MDM express the shared chemokine-hBD receptors CCR2 and CCR6, albeit at variable levels among donors. However, cell surface expression analyses show that neither of these receptors is necessary for hBD2-mediated HIV inhibition, suggesting that hBD2 can signal via additional receptor(s). Our data also illustrate that hBD2 treatment was associated with increased expression of APOBEC3A and 3G antiretroviral restriction factors in MDM. These findings suggest that hBD2 inhibits HIV in MDM via more than one CCR thus adding to the potential of using β-defensins in preventive and therapeutic approaches.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jennifer P Bharucha
- Division of Virology, Pathogenesis, and Cancer, Institute of Human Virology, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, United States
| | - Lingling Sun
- Division of Virology, Pathogenesis, and Cancer, Institute of Human Virology, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, United States
| | - Wuyuan Lu
- Division of Virology, Pathogenesis, and Cancer, Institute of Human Virology, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, United States.,Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, United States
| | - Suzanne Gartner
- Division of Virology, Pathogenesis, and Cancer, Institute of Human Virology, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, United States.,Department of Medicine, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, United States
| | - Alfredo Garzino-Demo
- Division of Virology, Pathogenesis, and Cancer, Institute of Human Virology, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, United States.,Department of Microbiology and Immunology, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, United States.,Department of Molecular Medicine, University of Padova, Padova, Italy
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15
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Ghosh SK, Weinberg A. Ramping Up Antimicrobial Peptides Against Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus-2. Front Mol Biosci 2021; 8:620806. [PMID: 34235176 PMCID: PMC8255374 DOI: 10.3389/fmolb.2021.620806] [Citation(s) in RCA: 23] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/23/2020] [Accepted: 05/27/2021] [Indexed: 12/17/2022] Open
Abstract
Human-derived antimicrobial peptides (AMPs), such as defensins and cathelicidin LL-37, are members of the innate immune system and play a crucial role in early pulmonary defense against viruses. These AMPs achieve viral inhibition through a variety of mechanisms including, but not limited to, direct binding to virions, binding to and modulating host cell-surface receptors, blocking viral replication, and aggregation of viral particles and indirectly by functioning as chemokines to enhance or curb adaptive immune responses. Given the fact that we are in a pandemic of unprecedented severity and the urgent need for therapeutic options to combat severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2), naturally expressed AMPs and their derivatives have the potential to combat coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) and impede viral infectivity in various ways. Provided the fact that development of effective treatments is an urgent public health priority, AMPs and their derivatives are being explored as potential prophylactic and therapeutic candidates. Additionally, cell-based platforms such as human mesenchymal stem cell (hMSC) therapy are showing success in saving the lives of severely ill patients infected with SARS-CoV-2. This could be partially due to AMPs released from hMSCs that also act as immunological rheostats to modulate the host inflammatory response. This review highlights the utilization of AMPs in strategies that could be implemented as novel therapeutics, either alone or in combination with other platforms, to treat CoV-2-infected individuals.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Aaron Weinberg
- Department of Biological Sciences, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH, United States
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16
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Solanki V, Tiwari M, Tiwari V. Prioritization of potential vaccine targets using comparative proteomics and designing of the chimeric multi-epitope vaccine against Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Sci Rep 2019; 9:5240. [PMID: 30918289 PMCID: PMC6437148 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-019-41496-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 66] [Impact Index Per Article: 13.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/23/2018] [Accepted: 03/11/2019] [Indexed: 11/10/2022] Open
Abstract
Multidrug-resistant Pseudomonas aeruginosa is one of the worldwide health problems involved in elevated mortality and morbidity. Therefore, it is important to find a therapeutic for this pathogen. In the present study, we have designed a chimeric vaccine against P. aeruginosa with the help of comparative proteomics and reverse vaccinology approaches. Using comparative subtractive proteomic analysis of 1,191 proteomes of P. aeruginosa, a total of twenty unique non-redundant proteomes were selected. In these proteomes, fifteen outer membrane proteins (OMPs) of P. aeruginosa were selected based on the basis of hydrophilicity, non-secretory nature, low transmembrane helix (<1), essentiality, virulence, pathway association, antigenic, and protein-protein network analysis. Reverse vaccinology approach was used to identify antigenic and immunogenic MHC class I, MHC class II and B cell epitopes present in the selected OMPs that can enhance T cell and B cell mediated immunogenicity. The selected epitopes were shortlisted based on their allergenicity, toxicity potentials, solubility, and hydrophilicity analysis. Immunogenic peptides were used to design a multi-epitope vaccine construct. Immune-modulating adjuvants and PADRE (Pan HLA-DR epitopes) sequence were added with epitopes sequence to enhance the immunogenicity. All the epitopes, adjuvants and PADRE sequence were joined by linkers. The designed vaccine constructs (VT1, VT2, VT3, and VT4) were analyzed by their physiochemical properties using different tools. Selected chimeric vaccine constructs (VT1, VT3, and VT4) were further shortlisted by their docking score with different HLA alleles. The final selected VT4 construct was docked with TLR4/MD2 complex and confirmed by molecular dynamics simulation studies. The final vaccine VT-4 construct was in-silico cloned in pET28a. Therefore, the designed construct VT4 may be studied to control the interaction of P. aeruginosa with host and infection caused by P. aeruginosa.
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Affiliation(s)
- Vandana Solanki
- Department of Biochemistry, Central University of Rajasthan, Ajmer, 305817, India
| | - Monalisa Tiwari
- Department of Biochemistry, Central University of Rajasthan, Ajmer, 305817, India
| | - Vishvanath Tiwari
- Department of Biochemistry, Central University of Rajasthan, Ajmer, 305817, India.
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17
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Mahmoodi S, Nezafat N. In SilicoDesigning a Novel Multi-epitope DNA Vaccine against Anti-apoptotic Proteins in Tumor Cells. CURR PROTEOMICS 2019. [DOI: 10.2174/1570164616666181127142214] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/22/2022]
Abstract
Background:Cancer therapy has been known as one of the most important challenges in the world. Various therapeutic methods such as cancer immunotherapy are used to eradicate tumor cells. Vaccines have an important role among different cancer immunotherapeutic approaches. In the field of vaccine production, bioinformatics approach is considered as a useful tool to design multi-epitope cancer vaccines, mainly for selecting immunodominant Cytotoxic T Lymphocytes (CTL) and Helper T Lymphocytes (HTL) epitopes.Objective:Generally, to design efficient multi-epitope cancer vaccines, Tumor-Specific Antigens (TSA) are targeted. In the context of DNA-based cancer vaccines, they contain genes that code tumor antigens and are delivered to host by different methods.Methods:In this study, the anti-apoptotic proteins (BCL2, BCL-X, survivin) that are over-expressed in different tumor cells were selected for CTL and HTL epitopes prediction through different servers such as RANKPEP, CTLpred, and BCPREDS.Results:Three regions from BCL2 and one region from BCL-X were selected as CTL epitopes and two segments from survivin were defined as HTL epitopes. In addition, β-defensin was used as a proper adjuvant to enhance vaccine efficacy. The aforesaid segments were joined together by appropriate linkers, and some important properties of designed vaccine such as antigenicity, allergenicity and physicochemical characteristics were determined by various bioinformatics servers.Conclusion:Based on the bioinformatics results, the physicochemical and immunological features showed that the designed vaccine construct can be used as an efficient cancer vaccine after its efficacy was confirmed by in vitro and in vivo immunological assays.
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Affiliation(s)
- Shirin Mahmoodi
- Department of Medical Biotechnology, School of Medicine, Fasa University of Medical Sciences, Fasa, Iran
| | - Navid Nezafat
- Pharmaceutical Sciences Research Center, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran
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18
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Meade KG, O'Farrelly C. β-Defensins: Farming the Microbiome for Homeostasis and Health. Front Immunol 2019; 9:3072. [PMID: 30761155 PMCID: PMC6362941 DOI: 10.3389/fimmu.2018.03072] [Citation(s) in RCA: 91] [Impact Index Per Article: 18.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/12/2018] [Accepted: 12/11/2018] [Indexed: 12/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Diverse commensal populations are now regarded as key to physiological homeostasis and protection against disease. Although bacteria are the most abundant component of microbiomes, and the most intensively studied, the microbiome also consists of viral, fungal, archael, and protozoan communities, about which comparatively little is known. Host-defense peptides (HDPs), originally described as antimicrobial, now have renewed significance as curators of the pervasive microbial loads required to maintain homeostasis and manage microbiome diversity. Harnessing HDP biology to transition away from non-selective, antibiotic-mediated treatments for clearance of microbes is a new paradigm, particularly in veterinary medicine. One family of evolutionarily conserved HDPs, β-defensins which are produced in diverse combinations by epithelial and immune cell populations, are multifunctional cationic peptides which manage the cross-talk between host and microbes and maintain a healthy yet dynamic equilibrium across mucosal systems. They are therefore key gatekeepers to the oral, respiratory, reproductive and enteric tissues, preventing pathogen-associated inflammation and disease and maintaining physiological normality. Expansions in the number of genes encoding these natural antibiotics have been described in the genomes of some species, the functional significance of which has only recently being appreciated. β-defensin expression has been documented pre-birth and disruptions in their regulation may play a role in maladaptive neonatal immune programming, thereby contributing to subsequent disease susceptibility. Here we review recent evidence supporting a critical role for β-defensins as farmers of the pervasive and complex prokaryotic ecosystems that occupy all body surfaces and cavities. We also share some new perspectives on the role of β-defensins as sensors of homeostasis and the immune vanguard particularly at sites of immunological privilege where inflammation is attenuated.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kieran G. Meade
- Animal and Bioscience Research Centre, Teagasc, Grange, Ireland
| | - Cliona O'Farrelly
- School of Medicine, Trinity Biomedical Sciences Institute, Trinity College Dublin, Dublin, Ireland
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19
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Solanki V, Tiwari V. Subtractive proteomics to identify novel drug targets and reverse vaccinology for the development of chimeric vaccine against Acinetobacter baumannii. Sci Rep 2018; 8:9044. [PMID: 29899345 PMCID: PMC5997985 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-018-26689-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 127] [Impact Index Per Article: 21.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/01/2018] [Accepted: 05/17/2018] [Indexed: 11/24/2022] Open
Abstract
The emergence of drug-resistant Acinetobacter baumannii is the global health problem associated with high mortality and morbidity. Therefore it is high time to find a suitable therapeutics for this pathogen. In the present study, subtractive proteomics along with reverse vaccinology approaches were used to predict suitable therapeutics against A. baumannii. Using subtractive proteomics, we have identified promiscuous antigenic membrane proteins that contain the virulence factors, resistance factors and essentiality factor for this pathogenic bacteria. Selected promiscuous targeted membrane proteins were used for the design of chimeric-subunit vaccine with the help of reverse vaccinology. Available best tools and servers were used for the identification of MHC class I, II and B cell epitopes. All selected epitopes were further shortlisted computationally to know their immunogenicity, antigenicity, allergenicity, conservancy and toxicity potentials. Immunogenic predicted promiscuous peptides used for the development of chimeric subunit vaccine with immune-modulating adjuvants, linkers, and PADRE (Pan HLA-DR epitopes) amino acid sequence. Designed vaccine construct V4 also interact with the MHC, and TLR4/MD2 complex as confirm by docking and molecular dynamics simulation studies. Therefore designed vaccine construct V4 can be developed to control the host-pathogen interaction or infection caused by A. baumannii.
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Affiliation(s)
- Vandana Solanki
- Department of Biochemistry, Central University of Rajasthan, Bandarsindri, Ajmer, 305817, India
| | - Vishvanath Tiwari
- Department of Biochemistry, Central University of Rajasthan, Bandarsindri, Ajmer, 305817, India.
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20
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Du Y, Shang BY, Sheng WJ, Zhang SH, Li Y, Miao QF, Zhen YS. A recombinantly tailored β-defensin that displays intensive macropinocytosis-mediated uptake exerting potent efficacy against K-Ras mutant pancreatic cancer. Oncotarget 2018; 7:58418-58434. [PMID: 27517152 PMCID: PMC5295440 DOI: 10.18632/oncotarget.11170] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/06/2016] [Accepted: 07/27/2016] [Indexed: 12/30/2022] Open
Abstract
K-Ras mutant pancreatic cancer cells display intensive macropinocytosis, indicating that this process may be exploited in the design of anticancer targeted therapies. In this study, we constructed a macropinocytosis-oriented recombinantly tailored defensin (DF-HSA) which consists of human β-defensin-2 (DF) and human serum albumin (HSA). The macropinocytosis intensity and cytotoxicity of DF-HSA were investigated in K-Ras mutant MIA PaCa-2 cells and wild-type BxPC-3 cells. As found, the DF-HSA uptake in MIA PaCa-2 cells was much higher than that in wild-type BxPC-3 cells. Correspondingly, the cytotoxicity of DF-HSA to MIA PaCa-2 cells was more potent than that to BxPC-3 cells. In addition, the cytotoxicity of DF-HSA was much stronger than that of β-defensin HBD2. DF-HSA suppressed cancer cell proliferation and induced mitochondrial pathway apoptosis. Notably, DF-HSA significantly inhibited the growth of human pancreatic carcinoma MIA PaCa-2 xenograft in athymic mice at well tolerated dose. By in vivo imaging, DF-HSA displayed a prominent accumulation in the tumor. The study indicates that the recombinantly tailored β-defensin can intensively enter into the K-Ras mutant pancreatic cancer cells through macropinocytosis-mediated process and exert potent therapeutic efficacy against the pancreatic carcinoma xenograft. The novel format of β-defensin may play an active role in macropinocytosis-mediated targeting therapy.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yue Du
- Institute of Medicinal Biotechnology, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Perking Union Medical College, Beijing, P.R. China
| | - Bo-Yang Shang
- Institute of Medicinal Biotechnology, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Perking Union Medical College, Beijing, P.R. China
| | - Wei-Jin Sheng
- Institute of Medicinal Biotechnology, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Perking Union Medical College, Beijing, P.R. China
| | - Sheng-Hua Zhang
- Institute of Medicinal Biotechnology, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Perking Union Medical College, Beijing, P.R. China
| | - Yi Li
- Institute of Medicinal Biotechnology, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Perking Union Medical College, Beijing, P.R. China
| | - Qing-Fang Miao
- Institute of Medicinal Biotechnology, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Perking Union Medical College, Beijing, P.R. China
| | - Yong-Su Zhen
- Institute of Medicinal Biotechnology, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Perking Union Medical College, Beijing, P.R. China
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Dar A, Tipu M, Townsend H, Potter A, Gerdts V, Tikoo S. Administration of Poly[di(sodium carboxylatoethylphenoxy)phosphazene] (PCEP) and Avian Beta Defensin as Adjuvants in Inactivated Inclusion Body Hepatitis Virus and its Hexon Protein-Based Experimental Vaccine Formulations in Chickens. Avian Dis 2016; 59:518-24. [PMID: 26629626 DOI: 10.1637/11202-052815-reg.1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/05/2022]
Abstract
Inclusion body hepatitis (IBH) is one of the major infectious diseases adversely affecting the poultry industry of the United States and Canada. Currently, no effective and safe vaccine is available for the control of IBH virus (IBHV) infection in chickens. However, based on the excellent safety and immunogenic profiles of experimental veterinary vaccines developed with the use of new generation adjuvants, we hypothesized that characterization of vaccine formulations containing inactivated IBHV or its capsid protein hexon as antigens, along with poly[di(sodium carboxylatoethylphenoxy)phosphazene] (PCEP) and avian beta defensin 2 (ABD2) as vaccine adjuvants, will be helpful in development of an effective and safe vaccine formulation for IBH. Our data demonstrated that experimental administration of vaccine formulations containing inactivated IBHV and a mixture of PCEP with or without ABD2 as an adjuvant induced significantly higher antibody responses compared with other vaccine formulations, while hexon protein-based vaccine formulations showed relatively lower levels of antibody responses. Thus, a vaccine formulation containing inactivated IBHV with PCEP or a mixture of PCEP and ABD2 (with a reduced dosage of PCEP) as an adjuvant may serve as a potential vaccine candidate. However, in order to overcome the risks associated with whole virus inactivated vaccines, characterization of additional viral capsid proteins, including fiber protein and penton of IBHV along with hexon protein in combination with more new generation adjuvants, will be helpful in further improvements of vaccines against IBHV infection.
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Affiliation(s)
- Arshud Dar
- Vaccine and Infectious Disease Organization-International Vaccine Centre (VIDO-InterVac), University of Saskatchewan SK, Canada S7N 5E3
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22
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Cappelletti M, Presicce P, Calcaterra F, Mavilio D, Della Bella S. Bright expression of CD91 identifies highly activated human dendritic cells that can be expanded by defensins. Immunology 2015; 144:661-7. [PMID: 25351513 DOI: 10.1111/imm.12418] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/05/2014] [Revised: 10/20/2014] [Accepted: 10/24/2014] [Indexed: 01/30/2023] Open
Abstract
CD91 is a scavenger receptor expressed by different immune cells and its ligands defensins have been demonstrated to contribute to immune responses against infections and tumours. We previously demonstrated that CD91 is expressed on human monocyte-derived dendritic cells (moDCs) and that human defensins stimulate in vitro the activation of these cells. In this study, we observed that CD91 is expressed at different levels on two distinct moDC subsets: CD91(dim) and CD91(bright) moDCs. Although CD91(bright) moDCs represented a small proportion of total moDCs, this subset showed higher levels of activation and maturation markers compared with CD91(dim) moDCs. The frequency of CD91(bright) moDCs increased by ~ 50% after in vitro stimulation with recombinant human neutrophil peptide-1 (rHNP-1) and recombinant human β defensin-1 (rHBD-1), while lipopolysaccharide (LPS) stimulation decreased it by ~ 35%. Both defensins up-regulated moDC expression of CD80, CD40, CD83 and HLA-DR, although to a lower extent compared with LPS. Notably, upon culture with rHNP-1 and rHBD-1, CD91(bright) moDCs maintained their higher activation/maturation status, whereas this was lost upon culture with LPS. Our findings suggest that defensins promote the differentiation into activated CD91(bright) DCs and may encourage the exploitation of the CD91/defensins axis as a novel therapeutic strategy to potentiate antimicrobial and anti-tumour immune response.
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Affiliation(s)
- Monica Cappelletti
- Department of Medical Biotechnologies and Translational Medicine, University of Milan, Milan, Italy; Laboratory of Clinical and Experimental Immunology, Humanitas Clinical and Research Centre, Rozzano, Italy
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Liu P, Xie G, Geng P, Zheng C, Li J, Pan F, Ruan Z, Liang H. Anti-tumor angiogenesis effect of genetic fusion vaccine encoding murine beta-defensin 2 and tumor endothelial marker-8 in a CT-26 murine colorectal carcinoma model. Int J Clin Exp Med 2015; 8:4744-4752. [PMID: 26064415 PMCID: PMC4443249] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/14/2014] [Accepted: 03/02/2015] [Indexed: 06/04/2023]
Abstract
Tumor endothelial marker 8 (TEM8) is an endothelial-specific marker that is upregulated during tumor angiogenesis. We previously demonstrated that DNA-based vaccine encoding xenogeneic TEM8 can potentiate anti-angiogenesis immunotherapy of malignancy; nevertheless, it remains to be improved in minimizing immune tolerance. Recently, it has been reported that murine beta-defensin 2 (MBD2) is chemotactic for immature dendritic cells and plays a pivotal role in breaking immune tolerance. Herein, we constructed a genetic fusion vaccine encoding murine TEM8 and MBD2 to investigate whether the novel vaccine preferentially elicits therapeutic antitumor immune responses and suppresses cancerous angiogenesis in mouse models. The anti-angiogenesis effect was determined by microvessel density (MVD) using immunohistochemical staining. The efficacy of the fusion vaccine was primarily assessed by detecting cytotoxic T lymphocyte activity ((51)Cr-release assay). Enzyme-linked immunosorbent spot (ELISpot) assay was used to detect TEM8-specific INF-γ production, and the activity of CTL was further verified by a depletion of CD8(+) T cells via anti-CD8 monoclonal antibody. Our results showed that the DNA fusion vaccine possessed an enhanced therapeutic antitumor immunity through anti-angiogenesis in BALB/c mice inoculated with CT26 cells, and this effect was generally attributed to stimulation of an antigen specific CD8(+) T-cell response against mTEM8. In conclusion, our study demonstrated that the fusion vaccine based on mTEM8 and MBD2 induced autoimmunity against endothelial cells, resulting in deceleration of tumor growth, and could be potential therapeutical application in clinic.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ping Liu
- Department of Oncology, Southwest Hospital, Third Military Medical University30 Gaotanyan Street, Chongqing 400038, China
- Department of Oncology, Peace Hospital of Changzhi Medical CollegeChangzhi 046000, China
| | - Ganfeng Xie
- Department of Oncology, Southwest Hospital, Third Military Medical University30 Gaotanyan Street, Chongqing 400038, China
| | - Peiliang Geng
- Department of Oncology, Southwest Hospital, Third Military Medical University30 Gaotanyan Street, Chongqing 400038, China
| | - Chenhong Zheng
- Department of Oncology, Southwest Hospital, Third Military Medical University30 Gaotanyan Street, Chongqing 400038, China
| | - Jianjun Li
- Department of Oncology, Southwest Hospital, Third Military Medical University30 Gaotanyan Street, Chongqing 400038, China
| | - Feng Pan
- Department of Oncology, Southwest Hospital, Third Military Medical University30 Gaotanyan Street, Chongqing 400038, China
| | - Zhihua Ruan
- Department of Oncology, Southwest Hospital, Third Military Medical University30 Gaotanyan Street, Chongqing 400038, China
| | - Houjie Liang
- Department of Oncology, Southwest Hospital, Third Military Medical University30 Gaotanyan Street, Chongqing 400038, China
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Evaluation of antitumor activity of platelet microbicidal protein on the model of transplanted breast cancer in CBRB-Rb(8.17)1Iem mice. Pathol Oncol Res 2014; 21:827-30. [PMID: 25432548 DOI: 10.1007/s12253-014-9812-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/03/2014] [Accepted: 06/04/2014] [Indexed: 10/24/2022]
Abstract
Breast cancer is the most common women's cancer in the world. There is considerable current interest in developing anticancer agents with a new mode of action because of the development of resistance by cancer cells towards current anticancer drugs. Mamalian cells have been shown to contain small, cationic, microbicidal peptides. Antimicrobial peptides have drawn attention as a promising alternative to current antitumor agents. Such peptides have been isolated both from animal and human platelets and have been termed platelets microbicidal proteins (PMP). The aim of this work was to study antitumor activity of PMP in vivo on the model of mouse breast cancer in comparison with antitumor hexapeptide Arg-alpha-Asp-Lys-Val-Tyr-Arg (Immunofan). We demonstrated that the tumors treated with PMP were significant smaller than the control groups (P < 0.05). In experiments in vivo using CBRB-Rb(8.17)1Iem mice with transplanted tumors PMP inhibited tumor growth during the treatments and after its discontinuation. These findings indicate that PMP can exert antitumor effects. Therefore, PMP may be used for the development of therapy for the intervention of breast cancer.
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Abstract
Recent developments in DNA vaccine research provide a new momentum for this rather young and potentially disruptive technology. Gene-based vaccines are capable of eliciting protective immunity in humans to persistent intracellular pathogens, such as HIV, malaria, and tuberculosis, for which the conventional vaccine technologies have failed so far. The recent identification and characterization of genes coding for tumor antigens has stimulated the development of DNA-based antigen-specific cancer vaccines. Although most academic researchers consider the production of reasonable amounts of plasmid DNA (pDNA) for immunological studies relatively easy to solve, problems often arise during this first phase of production. In this chapter we review the current state of the art of pDNA production at small (shake flasks) and mid-scales (lab-scale bioreactor fermentations) and address new trends in vector design and strain engineering. We will guide the reader through the different stages of process design starting from choosing the most appropriate plasmid backbone, choosing the right Escherichia coli (E. coli) strain for production, and cultivation media and scale-up issues. In addition, we will address some points concerning the safety and potency of the produced plasmids, with special focus on producing antibiotic resistance-free plasmids. The main goal of this chapter is to make immunologists aware of the fact that production of the pDNA vaccine has to be performed with as much as attention and care as the rest of their research.
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Boone BA, Lotze MT. Targeting damage-associated molecular pattern molecules (DAMPs) and DAMP receptors in melanoma. Methods Mol Biol 2014; 1102:537-52. [PMID: 24258998 DOI: 10.1007/978-1-62703-727-3_29] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/23/2022]
Abstract
Damage-associated molecular pattern molecules (DAMPs) are proteins released from cells under stress due to nutrient deprivation, hypoxia, trauma, or treatment with chemotherapy, among a variety of other causes. When released, DAMPs activate innate immunity, providing a pathway to a systemic inflammatory response in the absence of infection. By regulating inflammation in the tumor microenvironment, promoting angiogenesis, and increasing autophagy with evasion of apoptosis, DAMPs facilitate cancer growth. DAMPs and DAMP receptors have a key role in melanoma pathogenesis. Due to their crucial role in the development of melanoma and chemoresistance, DAMPs represent intriguing targets at a time when novel treatments are desperately needed.
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Affiliation(s)
- Brian A Boone
- Department of Surgery, Hillman Cancer Center, University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute, Pittsburgh, PA, USA
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Meade KG, Cormican P, Narciandi F, Lloyd A, O'Farrelly C. Bovine β-defensin gene family: opportunities to improve animal health? Physiol Genomics 2014; 46:17-28. [DOI: 10.1152/physiolgenomics.00085.2013] [Citation(s) in RCA: 56] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Recent analysis of the bovine genome revealed an expanded suite of β-defensin genes that encode what are referred to as antimicrobial or host defense peptides (HDPs). Whereas primate genomes also encode α- and θ-defensins, the bovine genome contains only the β-defensin subfamily of HDPs. β-Defensins perform diverse functions that are critical to protection against pathogens but also in regulation of the immune response and reproduction. As the most comprehensively studied subclass of HDPs, β-defensins possess the widest taxonomic distribution, found in invertebrates as well as plants, indicating an ancient point of origin. Cross-species comparison of the genomic arrangement of β-defensin gene repertoire revealed them to vary in number among species presumably due to differences in pathogenic selective pressures but also genetic drift. β-Defensin genes exist in a single cluster in birds, but four gene clusters exist in dog, rat, mouse, and cow. In humans and chimpanzees, one of these clusters is split in two as a result of a primate-specific pericentric inversion producing five gene clusters. A cluster of β-defensin genes on bovine chromosome 13 has been recently characterized, and full genome sequencing has identified extensive gene copy number variation on chromosome 27. As a result, cattle have the most diverse repertoire of β-defensin genes so far identified, where four clusters contain at least 57 genes. This expansion of β-defensin HDPs may hold significant potential for combating infectious diseases and provides opportunities to harness their immunological and reproductive functions in commercial cattle populations.
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Affiliation(s)
- K. G. Meade
- Animal & Bioscience Research Department, Animal & Grassland Research and Innovation Centre, Teagasc, Grange, Co. Meath, Ireland
| | - P. Cormican
- Animal & Bioscience Research Department, Animal & Grassland Research and Innovation Centre, Teagasc, Grange, Co. Meath, Ireland
| | - F. Narciandi
- Comparative Immunology Group, School of Biochemistry and Immunology, Trinity College, Dublin, Ireland; and
| | - A. Lloyd
- Department of Science & Health, Carlow Institute of Technology, Co. Carlow, Ireland
| | - C. O'Farrelly
- Comparative Immunology Group, School of Biochemistry and Immunology, Trinity College, Dublin, Ireland; and
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In addition to its antiviral and immunomodulatory properties, the zebrafish β-defensin 2 (zfBD2) is a potent viral DNA vaccine molecular adjuvant. Antiviral Res 2014; 101:136-47. [DOI: 10.1016/j.antiviral.2013.11.009] [Citation(s) in RCA: 51] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/13/2013] [Revised: 11/04/2013] [Accepted: 11/18/2013] [Indexed: 11/21/2022]
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Li D, Wang W, Shi HS, Fu YJ, Chen X, Chen XC, Liu YT, Kan B, Wang YS. Gene therapy with beta-defensin 2 induces antitumor immunity and enhances local antitumor effects. Hum Gene Ther 2013; 25:63-72. [PMID: 24134464 DOI: 10.1089/hum.2013.161] [Citation(s) in RCA: 21] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/06/2023] Open
Abstract
Beta-defensins, small antimicrobial peptides, are involved in host immune responses to tumors. In this study, we used beta-defensin 2 (BD2) to explore the possible role of beta-defensins in cancer gene therapy. A recombinant plasmid expressing a secretable form of BD2 was constructed. The biological activities of BD2 in immature dendritic cells (iDCs) were tested in vitro and in vivo. The antitumor effects were investigated in three established tumor models. The secreted BD2 was detected and exhibited chemotactic activity in iDCs both in vitro and in vivo. Recruitment and activation of iDCs in tumor niches resulted in significant tumor growth inhibition. Adoptive transfer of splenocytes and depletion of immune cell subsets revealed that CD8(+) T lymphocyte responses mediated the increased tumor inhibition. Furthermore, we also found that chemotactic and maturation-inducing activities in iDCs in tumor milieu contributed to enhanced local antitumor effects. Our study indicates that gene therapy with BD2 can mediate specific antitumor immunity and augment local antitumor effects. Our study also suggested that beta-defensins may merit further exploration for cancer immunotherapy as promising immunogenes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Dan Li
- Department of Thoracic Oncology, Cancer Center, State Key Laboratory of Biotherapy, West China Hospital, Sichuan University , Chengdu 610042, P.R. China
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Vemula SV, Amen O, Katz JM, Donis R, Sambhara S, Mittal SK. Beta-defensin 2 enhances immunogenicity and protection of an adenovirus-based H5N1 influenza vaccine at an early time. Virus Res 2013; 178:398-403. [PMID: 24051000 DOI: 10.1016/j.virusres.2013.09.013] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/22/2013] [Revised: 08/30/2013] [Accepted: 09/06/2013] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
Abstract
Reports of human infections with highly pathogenic H5N1 avian influenza viruses in many countries in Asia and Africa with varying case fatality rates highlight the pandemic potential of these viruses. In order to contain a rapidly spreading influenza virus in a pandemic scenario, a vaccine which can induce rapid and robust immune responses, preferably in a single dose, is necessary. Murine beta-defensin 2 (Mbd2), a small molecular weight protein expressed by epithelial cells, has been shown to enhance antigen-specific immune responses by recruiting and activating professional antigen presenting cells to the site of vaccination. This study assessed the potential of Mbd2 to enhance the immunogenicity and protective efficacy of a human adenovirus (HAd)-based vaccine expressing the hemagglutinin (HA) and nucleoprotein (NP) [HAd-HA-NP] of an H5N1 influenza virus. A single inoculation of mice with both HAd-HA-NP and a HAd vector expressing Murine β-defensin 2 (HAd-Mbd2) resulted in significantly higher levels of both humoral and cell-mediated immune responses compared to the groups vaccinated only with HAd-HA-NP. These responses were evident even at day 7 post-immunization. Furthermore, the HAd-HA-NP+HAd-Mbd2-immunized group receiving the lowest vector dose (2 × 10(7)+1 × 10(7)) was completely protected against an rgH5N1 virus challenge on day 7 post-vaccination. These results highlight the potential of Mbd2 as a genetic adjuvant in inducing rapid and robust immune responses to a HAd-based vaccine.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sai V Vemula
- Department of Comparative Pathobiology, College of Veterinary Medicine, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN 47907, USA; Bindley Bioscience Center, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN, USA
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31
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Vemula SV, Pandey A, Singh N, Katz JM, Donis R, Sambhara S, Mittal SK. Adenoviral vector expressing murine β-defensin 2 enhances immunogenicity of an adenoviral vector based H5N1 influenza vaccine in aged mice. Virus Res 2013; 177:55-61. [PMID: 23892144 DOI: 10.1016/j.virusres.2013.07.008] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/07/2013] [Revised: 06/18/2013] [Accepted: 07/11/2013] [Indexed: 11/27/2022]
Abstract
The ability to resist infections and respond to vaccinations is greatly reduced in the older adult population owing to a general decline in innate and adaptive immune functions with aging. Over the years several strategies such as increasing the vaccine dose, number of immunizations and using adjuvants have been evaluated to improve the immunogenicity and efficacy of vaccines in the older adult population. Murine β-defensin 2 (Mbd2) has been shown to function as a molecular adjuvant by recruiting and activating immature dendritic cells (DCs), professional antigen-presenting cells (APC), to the site of the immunization. In this study, we evaluated the potential utility of Mbd2 to enhance the efficacy of an adenoviral vector-based H5N1 influenza vaccine expressing hemagglutinin (HA) and nucleoprotein (NP) (HAd-HA-NP) in an aged mouse model. Our results indicated that immunostimulation with an adenoviral vector expressing Mbd2 (HAd-Mbd2) activated DCs and significantly enhanced the humoral and cellular immune responses induced by HAd-HA-NP. Furthermore, immunostimulation with HAd-Mbd2 followed by immunization with HAd-HA-NP resulted in significantly lower virus titers in the lungs following challenge with a H5N1 influenza virus compared to the group immunized with HAd-HA-NP without immunostimulation. Overall, our results highlight the potential utility of Mbd2 as a molecular adjuvant to enhance the immunogenicity and protective efficacy of vaccines for the elderly.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sai V Vemula
- Department of Comparative Pathobiology, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN, USA; Bindley Bioscience Center, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN, USA
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Defensins: natural component of human innate immunity. Hum Immunol 2013; 74:1069-79. [PMID: 23756165 DOI: 10.1016/j.humimm.2013.05.008] [Citation(s) in RCA: 119] [Impact Index Per Article: 10.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/03/2012] [Revised: 04/23/2013] [Accepted: 05/29/2013] [Indexed: 12/19/2022]
Abstract
The widespread use of antibiotics has contributed to a huge increase in the number of resistant bacteria. New classes of drugs are therefore being developed of which defensins are a potential source. Defensins are a group of antimicrobial peptides found in different living organisms, involved in the first line of defense in their innate immune response against pathogens. This review summarizes the results of studies of this family of human antimicrobial peptides (AMPs). There is a special emphasis on describing the entire group and individual peptides, history of their discovery, their functions and expression sites. The results of the recent studies on the use of the biologically active peptides in human medicine are also presented. The pharmaceutical potential of human defensins cannot be ignored, especially considering their strong antimicrobial activity and properties such as low molecular weight, reduced immunogenicity, broad activity spectrum and resistance to proteolysis, but there are still many challenges and questions regarding the possibilities of their practical application.
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Xia L, Zhang F, Liu Z, Ma J, Yang J. Expression and characterization of cecropinXJ, a bioactive antimicrobial peptide from Bombyx mori (Bombycidae, Lepidoptera) in Escherichia coli.. Exp Ther Med 2013; 5:1745-1751. [PMID: 23837066 PMCID: PMC3702707 DOI: 10.3892/etm.2013.1056] [Citation(s) in RCA: 27] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/09/2013] [Accepted: 03/22/2013] [Indexed: 12/31/2022] Open
Abstract
Insect antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) have a broad antimicrobial spectrum. To aid the characterization of the gene function and further applications, we cloned the gene of cecropinXJ into the prokaryotic expression vector pET32a and expressed cecropinXJ in Escherichia coli BL2l (DE3). Following induction by isopropyl-β-D-thiogalactoside (IPTG), a 25 kDa fusion peptide of cecropinXJ with a tagged thioredoxin (Trx) protein was highly expressed in E. coli. The yield was 10 mg/l culture medium following purification on nickel-nitrilotriacetic acid (Ni-NTA) metal affinity chromatography matrices. The purified recombinant antibacterial peptide, cecropinXJ, retained a high stability against Staphylococcus aureus over a temperature range from 4 to 100°C and a pH range from pH 2.0 to 12.0. The minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) of the fusion protein against S. aureus was 0.4 μM. The recombinant cecropinXJ is also cytotoxic to several types of human cancer cells.
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Affiliation(s)
- Lijie Xia
- Xinjiang Key Laboratory of Biological Resources and Genetic Engineering, College of Life Science and Technology, Xinjiang University, Urumqi, Xinjiang 830046, P.R. China
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Cervantes-Villagrana AR, Hernández-Pando R, Biragyn A, Castañeda-Delgado J, Bodogai M, Martínez-Fierro M, Sada E, Trujillo V, Enciso-Moreno A, Rivas-Santiago B. Prime-boost BCG vaccination with DNA vaccines based in β-defensin-2 and mycobacterial antigens ESAT6 or Ag85B improve protection in a tuberculosis experimental model. Vaccine 2012. [PMID: 23196205 DOI: 10.1016/j.vaccine.2012.11.042] [Citation(s) in RCA: 40] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/28/2023]
Abstract
The World Health Organization (WHO) has estimated that there are about 8 million new cases annually of active Tuberculosis (TB). Despite its irregular effectiveness (0-89%), the Bacillus Calmette-Guérin) BCG is the only vaccine available worldwide for prevention of TB; thus, the design is important of novel and more efficient vaccination strategies. Considering that β-defensin-2 is an antimicrobial peptide that induces dendritic cell maturation through the TLR-4 receptor and that both ESAT-6 and Ag85B are immunodominant mycobacterial antigens and efficient activators of the protective immune response, we constructed two DNA vaccines by the fusion of the gene encoding β-defensin-2 and antigens ESAT6 (pDE) and 85B (pDA). After confirming efficient local antigen expression that induced high and stable Interferon gamma (IFN-γ) production in intramuscular (i.m.) vaccinated Balb/c mice, groups of mice were vaccinated with DNA vaccines in a prime-boost regimen with BCG and with BCG alone, and 2 months later were challenged with the mild virulence reference strain H37Rv and the highly virulent clinical isolate LAM 5186. The level of protection was evaluated by survival, lung bacilli burdens, and extension of tissue damage (pneumonia). Vaccination with both DNA vaccines showed similar protection to that of BCG. After the challenge with the highly virulent Mycobacterium tuberculosis strain, animals that were prime-boosted with BCG and then boosted with both DNA vaccines showed significant higher survival and less tissue damage than mice vaccinated only with BCG. These results suggest that improvement of BCG vaccination, such as the prime-boost DNA vaccine, represents a more efficient vaccination scheme against TB.
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Weinberg A, Jin G, Sieg S, McCormick TS. The yin and yang of human Beta-defensins in health and disease. Front Immunol 2012; 3:294. [PMID: 23060878 PMCID: PMC3465815 DOI: 10.3389/fimmu.2012.00294] [Citation(s) in RCA: 48] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/28/2012] [Accepted: 09/03/2012] [Indexed: 12/03/2022] Open
Abstract
Rapidly evolving research examining the extended role of human beta-defensins (hBDs) in chemoattraction, innate immune-mediated response, and promotion of angiogenesis suggest that the collective effects of hBDs extend well beyond their antimicrobial mechanism(s). Indeed, the numerous basic cellular functions associated with hBDs demonstrate that these peptides have dual impact on health, as they may be advantageous under certain conditions, but potentially detrimental in others. The consequences of these functions are reflected in the overexpression of hBDs in diseases, such as psoriasis, and recently the association of hBDs with pro-tumoral signaling. The mechanisms regulating hBD response in health and disease are still being elucidated. Clearly the spectrum of function now attributed to hBD regulation identifies these molecules as important cellular regulators, whose appropriate expression is critical for proper immune surveillance; i.e., expression of hBDs in proximity to areas of cellular dysregulation may inadvertently exacerbate disease progression. Understanding the mechanism(s) that regulate contextual signaling of hBDs is an important area of concentration in our laboratories. Using a combination of immunologic, biochemical, and molecular biologic approaches, we have identified signaling pathways associated with hBD promotion of immune homeostasis and have begun to dissect the inappropriate role that beta-defensins may assume in disease.
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Affiliation(s)
- Aaron Weinberg
- Department of Biological Sciences, Case Western Reserve University School of Dental Medicine Cleveland, OH, USA
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Li Y, Xiang Q, Zhang Q, Huang Y, Su Z. Overview on the recent study of antimicrobial peptides: origins, functions, relative mechanisms and application. Peptides 2012; 37:207-15. [PMID: 22800692 DOI: 10.1016/j.peptides.2012.07.001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 316] [Impact Index Per Article: 26.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/18/2012] [Revised: 06/30/2012] [Accepted: 07/02/2012] [Indexed: 01/06/2023]
Abstract
Antimicrobial peptides (AMPs), which are produced by several species including insects, other animals, micro-organisms and synthesis, are a critical component of the natural defense system. With the growing problem of pathogenic organisms resistant to conventional antibiotics, especially with the emergence of NDM-1, there is increased interest in the pharmacological application of AMPs. They can protect against a broad array of infectious agents, such as bacteria, fungi, parasite, virus and cancer cells. AMPs have a very good future in the application in pharmaceuticals industry and food additive. This review focuses on the AMPs from different origins in these recent years, and discusses their various functions and relative mechanisms of action. It will provide some detailed files for clinical research of pharmaceuticals industry and food additive in application.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yanmei Li
- Biopharmaceutical Research and Development Center, College of Life Science and Technology, Jinan University, Guangzhou 510632, Guangdong, China
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