title: Development of an Aeromonas hydrophila recombinant extracellular protease vaccine.
abstract: Aeromonas hydrophila (Ah) exists widely in the aquatic environment and infects a variety of animals. Extracellular protease (EPR) is an important protective antigen that induces a specific antibody response to resist Ah infection. In this study, two genes encoding extracellular protease epr2 and epr3 were linked within the expression vector pET32a to construct a recombinant pET-epr2-3 plasmid. The immunogenicity of the fusion protein epr2-3 was investigated as a subunit vaccine in ICR mice. The recombinant epr2-3 protein induced the production of high antibody titers. The survival rate against homogenous Ah J-1 challenge was significantly higher in the epr2-3 vaccinated group (≥80%) compared with the inactivated Ah vaccinated group and the challenge control group (P < 0.01), thus indicating that the recombinant epr2-3 protein provided significant protection against Ah infection. Therefore, the recombinant epr2-3 is a promising candidate for development as a vaccine against Ah infections.
authors.affiliation: College of Veterinary Medicine, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing 210095, China.
authors.forename: Lei
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.forename: Ya-nan
authors.initials: YN
authors.lastname: Jiang
authors.forename: Qian
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Tang
authors.forename: Hui-xing
authors.initials: HX
authors.lastname: Lin
authors.forename: Cheng-ping
authors.initials: CP
authors.lastname: Lu
authors.forename: Huo-chun
authors.initials: HC
authors.lastname: Yao
mesh_terms: D016980:Aeromonas hydrophila / Q000201:enzymology* / Q000235:genetics; D000818:Animals; D000907:Antibodies, Bacterial / Q000097:blood; D001428:Bacterial Vaccines / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology*; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D005260:Female; D016905:Gram-Negative Bacterial Infections / Q000276:immunology / Q000517:prevention & control*; D051379:Mice; D008813:Mice, Inbred ICR; D010447:Peptide Hydrolases / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology*; D011993:Recombinant Fusion Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology; D016019:Survival Analysis; D022223:Vaccines, Subunit / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology; D014614:Vaccines, Synthetic / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology
chemical_list: D000907:Antibodies, Bacterial; D001428:Bacterial Vaccines; D011993:Recombinant Fusion Proteins; D022223:Vaccines, Subunit; D014614:Vaccines, Synthetic; D010447:Peptide Hydrolases