Esterly HJ, Crilly CJ, Piszkiewicz S, Shovlin DJ, Pielak GJ, Christian BE. Toxicity and Immunogenicity of a Tardigrade Cytosolic Abundant Heat Soluble Protein in Mice.
Front Pharmacol 2020;
11:565969. [PMID:
33117164 PMCID:
PMC7577191 DOI:
10.3389/fphar.2020.565969]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/10/2020] [Accepted: 09/11/2020] [Indexed: 12/03/2022] Open
Abstract
Tardigrades are microscopic animals well-known for their stress tolerance, including the ability to survive desiccation. This survival requires cytosolic abundant heat soluble (CAHS) proteins. CAHS D protects enzymes from desiccation- and lyophilization-induced inactivation in vitro and has the potential to stabilize protein-based therapeutics, including vaccines. Here, we investigate whether purified recombinant CAHS D causes hemolysis or a toxic or immunogenic response following intraperitoneal injection in mice. CAHS D did not cause hemolysis, and all mice survived the 28-day monitoring period. The mice gained weight normally and developed anti-CAHS D antibodies but did not show upregulation of the inflammatory cytokines interleukin-6 and tumor necrosis factor alpha. In summary, CAHS D is not toxic and does not promote an inflammatory immune response in mice under the conditions used here, suggesting the reasonability of further study for use as stabilizers of protein-based therapeutics.
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