title: Comparison of mouse, guinea pig and rabbit models for evaluation of plague subunit vaccine F1+rV270.
abstract: In this study, a new subunit vaccine that comprised native F1 and recombinant rV270 was evaluated for protective efficacy using mouse, guinea pig and rabbit models in comparison with the live attenuated vaccine EV76. Complete protection against challenging with 10(6) colony-forming units (CFU) of virulent Yersinia pestis strain 141 was observed for mice immunized with the subunit vaccines and EV76 vaccine. In contrast, the subunit vaccine recipes VII (F1-20 microg+rV270-10 microg) and IX (F1-40 microg+rV270-20 microg) and EV76 vaccine provided 86%, 79% and 93% protection against the same level of challenge in guinea pigs and 100%, 83% and 100% protection in rabbits, respectively. The immunized mice with the vaccines had significantly higher IgG titres than the guinea pigs and rabbits, and the immunized guinea pigs developed significantly higher IgG titres than the rabbits, but the anti-F1 response in guinea pigs was more variable than in the mice and rabbits, indicating that guinea pig is not an ideal model for evaluating protective efficacy of plague subunit vaccine, instead the rabbits could be used as an alternative model. All the immunized animals with EV76 developed a negligible IgG titre to rV270 antigen. Furthermore, analysis of IgG subclasses in the immunized animals showed a strong response for IgG1, whereas those receiving EV76 immunization demonstrated predominant production of IgG1 and IgG2a isotypes. The subunit vaccine and EV76 vaccine are able to provide protection for animals against Y. pestis challenge, but the subunit vaccines have obvious advantages over EV76 in terms of safety of use.
authors.affiliation: Qinghai Institute for Endemic Disease Prevention and Control of Qinghai Province, Xining 811602, China.
authors.forename: Zhizhen
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Qi
authors.forename: Lei
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Zhou
authors.forename: Qingwen
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Lingling
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Ren
authors.forename: Ruixia
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Dai
authors.forename: Benchuan
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.forename: Tang
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Ziwen
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Zhu
authors.forename: Yonghai
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.forename: Baizhong
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Cui
authors.forename: Zuyun
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Hu
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Yefeng
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Qiu
authors.forename: Zhaobiao
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Guo
authors.forename: Ruifu
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.forename: Xiaoyi
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Wang
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000907:Antibodies, Bacterial / Q000097:blood; D000942:Antigens, Bacterial / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology*; D001426:Bacterial Proteins / Q000276:immunology*; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D005260:Female; D006168:Guinea Pigs; D007074:Immunoglobulin G / Q000097:blood; D051379:Mice; D008807:Mice, Inbred BALB C; D010930:Plague / Q000276:immunology / Q000517:prevention & control*; D010931:Plague Vaccine / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology*; D052899:Pore Forming Cytotoxic Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology*; D011817:Rabbits; D016019:Survival Analysis; D014613:Vaccines, Attenuated / Q000276:immunology; D022223:Vaccines, Subunit / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology; D014614:Vaccines, Synthetic / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology
chemical_list: D000907:Antibodies, Bacterial; D000942:Antigens, Bacterial; D001426:Bacterial Proteins; D007074:Immunoglobulin G; C043908:LcrV protein, Yersinia; D010931:Plague Vaccine; D052899:Pore Forming Cytotoxic Proteins; D014613:Vaccines, Attenuated; D022223:Vaccines, Subunit; D014614:Vaccines, Synthetic; C086725:caf1 protein, Yersinia pestis