title: Cellular immunity survey against urinary tract infection using pVAX/fimH cassette with mammalian and wild type codon usage as a DNA vaccine.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  FimH (the adhesion fragment of type 1 fimbriae) is implicated in uropathogenic Escherichia coli (UPEC) attachment to epithelial cells through interaction with mannose. Recently, some studies have found that UPEC can thrive intracellularly causing recurrent urinary tract infection (UTI). Almost all vaccines have been designed to induce antibodies against UPEC. Yet, the humoral immune response is not potent enough to overcome neither the primary UTI nor recurrent infections. However, DNA vaccines offer the possibility of inducing cell mediated immune responses and may be a promising preventive tool.
  
  
  METHODS
  In this study, we employed two different open reading frames within mammalian (mam) and wild type (wt) codons of fimH gene. Optimized fragments were cloned in pVAX-1. Expression of the protein in COS-7 was confirmed by western blot analysis after assessing pVAX/fimH(mam) and pVAX/fimH(wt). The constructs were injected to BALB/c mice at plantar surface of feet followed by electroporation.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The mice immunized with both constructs following booster injection with recombinant FimH showed increased interferon-γ and interleukin-12 responses significantly higher than non-immunized ones (p<0.05). The immunized mice were challenged with UPEC and then the number of bacteria recovered from the immunized mice was compared with the non-immunized ones. Decreased colony count in immunized mice along with cytokine responses confirmed the promising immune response by the DNA vaccines developed in this study.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  In conclusion, DNA vaccines of UPEC proteins may confer some levels of protection which can be improved by multiple constructs or boosters.
authors.affiliation: Applied Microbiology Research Center, Baqiyatallah University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Abbas Ali
authors.initials: AA
authors.lastname: Imani Fooladi
authors.affiliation: Applied Microbiology Research Center, Baqiyatallah University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Ghasem
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Bagherpour
authors.affiliation: Bacteriology Faculty of Medical Sciences, Tarbiat Modares University, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Nima
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Khoramabadi
authors.affiliation: Department of Genetic Engineering, Faculty of Biosciences and Biotechnology, Malekashtar University of Technology, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Jalil
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Fallah Mehrabadi
authors.affiliation: Department of Virology, Pasteur Institute of Iran, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Mehdi
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Mahdavi
authors.affiliation: Applied Microbiology Research Center, Baqiyatallah University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Raheleh
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Halabian
authors.affiliation: Department of Drug and Food Control, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Mohsen
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Amin
authors.affiliation: Department of Physiology and Pharmacology, Pasteur Institute of Iran, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Jalal
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Izadi Mobarakeh
authors.affiliation: Nephrology and Urology Research Center, Baqiyatallah University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Behzad
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Einollahi
keywords: Codon usage optimization; DNA vaccines; FimH; Urinary tract infections