title: Eimeria tenella heat shock protein 70 enhances protection of recombinant microneme protein MIC2 subunit antigen vaccination against E. tenella challenge.
abstract: Heat shock proteins have been reported to stimulate the immune system via innate receptors. Our study found that the novel immunopotentiator, Eimeria tenella (E. tenella) heat shock protein 70 (HSP70), enhanced protective immunity elicited by E. tenella antigen microneme protein 2 (EtMIC2) against avian coccidiosis. It demonstrated that the expression of TLR2 and TLR4 were strongly upregulated in EtHSP70 and EtMIC2 plus EtHSP70 stimulated chicken embryo fibroblasts (CEF) compared with untreated controls and EtMIC2 alone. In addition, the same treatment induced high levels of interleukin (IL)-12 and interferon (IFN)-γ that are critical cytokines of innate immunity. In vivo experiments involved using broiler chickens subcutaneously immunized with EtMIC2 alone or EtMIC2 plus EtHSP70 at 7 and 14 days post-hatch, which were then orally challenged with live E. tenella at 7 days following secondary immunization. Body weight gains, cecal lesion scores, fecal oocyst shedding, serum antibody responses against MIC2, and intestinal cytokine transcript levels were assessed as measures of protective immunity. Chickens immunized with EtMIC2 plus EtHSP70 showed increased body weight gains, decreased oocyst shedding, increased serum antibody responses, and high levels of IL-12, IFN-γ, and IL-17 compared with the EtMIC2 only or control groups. Moreover, chickens immunized with EtHSP70 alone showed significantly protective effect against E. tenella infection. In summary, this study provides the first evidence of the immunoenhancing activities of EtHSP70 in poultry.
authors.affiliation: National Laboratory of Veterinary Protozoology, College of Veterinary Medicine, China Agricultural University, Beijing 100193, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Lei
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Liping
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Ma
authors.forename: Renqiang
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Yunfei
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Shouping
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Chunmei
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Hu
authors.forename: Meng
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Song
authors.forename: Jianping
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Cai
authors.forename: Ming
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Wang
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000913:Antibodies, Protozoan / Q000097:blood; D000953:Antigens, Protozoan / Q000276:immunology; D002642:Chick Embryo; D002645:Chickens / Q000469:parasitology*; D003048:Coccidiosis / Q000276:immunology / Q000469:parasitology / Q000517:prevention & control / Q000662:veterinary*; D016207:Cytokines / Q000235:genetics; D016786:Eimeria tenella / Q000276:immunology*; D005243:Feces / Q000469:parasitology; D018840:HSP70 Heat-Shock Proteins / Q000276:immunology*; D007113:Immunity, Innate; D033661:Oocysts; D011201:Poultry Diseases / Q000276:immunology / Q000469:parasitology / Q000517:prevention & control*; D015800:Protozoan Proteins / Q000276:immunology; D016052:Protozoan Vaccines / Q000276:immunology; D011897:Random Allocation; D011994:Recombinant Proteins / Q000276:immunology; D015398:Signal Transduction / Q000235:genetics; D014611:Vaccination / Q000662:veterinary; D015430:Weight Gain
chemical_list: D000913:Antibodies, Protozoan; D000953:Antigens, Protozoan; D016207:Cytokines; D018840:HSP70 Heat-Shock Proteins; D015800:Protozoan Proteins; D016052:Protozoan Vaccines; D011994:Recombinant Proteins