title: Modulation of immune responses by the antimicrobial peptide, epinecidin (Epi)-1, and establishment of an Epi-1-based inactivated vaccine.
abstract: Current efforts to improve the effectiveness of vaccines include incorporating antimicrobial peptides mixed with a virus. The antimicrobial peptide, epinecidin (Epi)-1, was reported to have an antiviral function, and an Epi-1-based inactivated vaccine was postulated as a model and discussed. In this report, we demonstrated modulation of immune responses by Epi-1 and an Epi-1-based Japanese encephalitis virus (JEV)-inactivated vaccine against JEV infection in mice. Under in vitro conditions, Epi-1 prevented JEV infection-mediated loss of cell viability in BHK-21 cells. When Epi-1 and JEV were co-injected into mice and mice were re-challenged with JEV after 14 days, all mice survived. In addition, Epi-1 modulated the expressions of immune-responsive genes like interleukin (IL)-6, IL-10, MCP-1, tumor necrosis factor-α, interferon-γ and IL-12, and elevated the levels of anti-JEV-neutralizing antibodies in the serum. The presence of Epi-1 suppressed the multiplication of JEV in brain sections at 4 days after an injection. Mice immunized with the developed vaccine showed complete survival against JEV infection, and it was superior to the traditional formalin-based JEV-inactivated vaccine. This study demonstrates the use of Epi-1 to develop an inactivated vaccine can provide guidelines for the future design of Epi-1-virus formulations for various in vivo applications.
authors.affiliation: Department of Food Science, National Taiwan Ocean University, 2 Pei-Ning Road, Keelung 20224, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Han-Ning
authors.initials: HN
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.forename: Chieh-Yu
authors.initials: CY
authors.lastname: Pan
authors.forename: Venugopal
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Rajanbabu
authors.forename: Yi-Lin
authors.initials: YL
authors.lastname: Chan
authors.forename: Chang-Jer
authors.initials: CJ
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.forename: Jyh-Yih
authors.initials: JY
authors.lastname: Chen
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000831:Animals, Newborn; D023181:Antimicrobial Cationic Peptides / Q000276:immunology*; D015153:Blotting, Western; D002460:Cell Line; D049109:Cell Proliferation; D002470:Cell Survival; D006224:Cricetinae; D004664:Encephalitis Virus, Japanese / Q000276:immunology*; D004672:Encephalitis, Japanese / Q000276:immunology / Q000517:prevention & control; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; D005260:Female; D029941:Fish Proteins / Q000276:immunology*; D005455:Fluorescent Antibody Technique; D022321:Japanese Encephalitis Vaccines / Q000276:immunology; D051379:Mice; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D011897:Random Allocation; D015164:Vaccines, Inactivated / Q000276:immunology*
chemical_list: D023181:Antimicrobial Cationic Peptides; D029941:Fish Proteins; D022321:Japanese Encephalitis Vaccines; D015164:Vaccines, Inactivated; C521392:epinecidin-1, Epinephelus coioides