title: Induction of protective immunity against Chlamydia muridarum intravaginal infection with a chlamydial glycogen phosphorylase.
abstract: We evaluated 7 C. muridarum ORFs for their ability to induce protection against chlamydial infection in a mouse intravaginal infection model. These antigens, although encoded in C. muridarum genome, are transcriptionally regulated by a cryptic plasmid that is known to contribute to C. muridarum pathogenesis. Of the 7 plasmid-regulated ORFs, the chlamydial glycogen phosphorylase or GlgP, when delivered into mice intramuscularly, induced the most pronounced protective immunity against C. muridarum intravaginal infection. The GlgP-immunized mice displayed a significant reduction in vaginal shedding of live organisms on day 14 after infection. The protection correlated well with a robust C. muridarum-specific antibody and a Th1-dominant T cell responses, which significantly reduced the severity but not overall incidence of hydrosalpinx. The GlgP-induced partial protection against upper genital tract pathology suggests that GlgP may be considered a component for a multi-subunit vaccine. These results have demonstrated that intramuscular immunization of mice with purified proteins can be used to identify vaccine antigens for preventing intravaginal infection with C. trachomatis in humans.
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology and Immunology, University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, San Antonio, Texas, United States of America.
authors.forename: Zhihong
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Chunxue
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Lu
authors.forename: Bo
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Peng
authors.forename: Hao
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Zeng
authors.forename: Zhiguan
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Zhou
authors.forename: Yimou
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.forename: Guangming
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Zhong
mesh_terms: D000704:Analysis of Variance; D000818:Animals; D000907:Antibodies, Bacterial / Q000276:immunology; D000942:Antigens, Bacterial / Q000235:genetics*; D015153:Blotting, Western; D002690:Chlamydia Infections / Q000276:immunology* / Q000517:prevention & control; D023502:Chlamydia muridarum / Q000201:enzymology / Q000276:immunology*; D003429:Cross Reactions; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; D005260:Female; D024981:Glycogen Phosphorylase / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000276:immunology / Q000494:pharmacology*; D006367:HeLa Cells; D006801:Humans; D007273:Injections, Intramuscular; D051379:Mice; D008856:Microscopy, Fluorescence; D016366:Open Reading Frames / Q000235:genetics; D010957:Plasmids / Q000235:genetics; D013601:T-Lymphocytes / Q000276:immunology; D014623:Vaginal Diseases / Q000276:immunology / Q000382:microbiology* / Q000517:prevention & control; D017201:Virus Shedding / Q000187:drug effects
chemical_list: D000907:Antibodies, Bacterial; D000942:Antigens, Bacterial; D024981:Glycogen Phosphorylase