title: Immunodominant epitope-specific Th1 but not Th17 responses mediate protection against Helicobacter pylori infection following UreB vaccination of BALB/c mice.
abstract: Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) infects more than half of the world's population, causing chronic gastritis, peptic ulcers and gastric cancer. Urease B subunit (UreB), a conserved protein of H. pylori, is capable of inducing specific CD4(+) T-cell responses and provides protection against this infection. Previous studies have confirmed the effectiveness of rUreB subunit vaccines in generating CD4(+) T-cell-mediated protection, but less is known regarding the roles of different subtypes of T-cell immunity, such as Th1, Th2 and Th17, particularly the immunodominant epitopes inducing specific CD4(+) T-cell responses, in vaccine-mediated protection. In this study, we demonstrated that the vaccination of BALB/c mice with rUreB resulted in significant antigen-specific Th1 and Th17 immune responses. Importantly, two novel Th epitopes, UreB317-329 and UreB409-421, which are recognized by a major population of CD4(+) T cells, were identified in immunized mice. Our results demonstrated that two novel epitopes can simultaneously induce Th1 and Th17 immune responses; however, only the epitope vaccine-induced CD4(+) T-cells secreting IFN-γ mediated the protection against H. pylori; cells secreting IL-17A did not. Taken together, our results suggest that two novel immunodominant epitopes can induce Th1 and Th17 immune responses, but only the induced Th1 lymphocytes mediate protection against H. pylori.
authors.affiliation: National Engineering Research Center of Immunological Products, Department of Microbiology and Biochemical Pharmacy, College of Pharmacy, Third Military Medical University, Chongqing 400038, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Bin
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: National Engineering Research Center of Immunological Products, Department of Microbiology and Biochemical Pharmacy, College of Pharmacy, Third Military Medical University, Chongqing 400038, P.R. China.|Department of Blood Transfusion, Xinqiao Hospital, Third Military Medical University, Chongqing 400037, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Li
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: National Engineering Research Center of Immunological Products, Department of Microbiology and Biochemical Pharmacy, College of Pharmacy, Third Military Medical University, Chongqing 400038, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Heqiang
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Sun
authors.affiliation: Department of Gastroenterology, Xinqiao Hospital, Third Military Medical University, Chongqing 400037, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Wuchen
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.affiliation: Department of Gastroenterology, Xinqiao Hospital, Third Military Medical University, Chongqing 400037, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Jian
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Hu
authors.affiliation: Department of Gastroenterology, Xinqiao Hospital, Third Military Medical University, Chongqing 400037, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Yafei
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: He
authors.affiliation: Department of Gastroenterology, Xinqiao Hospital, Third Military Medical University, Chongqing 400037, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Shanshan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Wei
authors.affiliation: National Engineering Research Center of Immunological Products, Department of Microbiology and Biochemical Pharmacy, College of Pharmacy, Third Military Medical University, Chongqing 400038, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Zhuo
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Zhao
authors.affiliation: National Engineering Research Center of Immunological Products, Department of Microbiology and Biochemical Pharmacy, College of Pharmacy, Third Military Medical University, Chongqing 400038, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Jinyong
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: National Engineering Research Center of Immunological Products, Department of Microbiology and Biochemical Pharmacy, College of Pharmacy, Third Military Medical University, Chongqing 400038, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Haibo
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: National Engineering Research Center of Immunological Products, Department of Microbiology and Biochemical Pharmacy, College of Pharmacy, Third Military Medical University, Chongqing 400038, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Quanming
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Zou
authors.affiliation: National Engineering Research Center of Immunological Products, Department of Microbiology and Biochemical Pharmacy, College of Pharmacy, Third Military Medical University, Chongqing 400038, P.R. China.
authors.forename: Chao
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Wu
mesh_terms: D000276:Adjuvants, Immunologic / Q000008:administration & dosage; D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D001426:Bacterial Proteins / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000737:chemistry / Q000276:immunology; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D018604:Epitope Mapping; D018984:Epitopes, T-Lymphocyte / Q000276:immunology; D005260:Female; D005620:Freund's Adjuvant / Q000008:administration & dosage; D016481:Helicobacter Infections / Q000276:immunology / Q000382:microbiology / Q000517:prevention & control*; D016480:Helicobacter pylori / Q000276:immunology*; D007371:Interferon-gamma / Q000378:metabolism; D020381:Interleukin-17 / Q000378:metabolism; D008807:Mice, Inbred BALB C; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D018417:Th1 Cells / Q000382:microbiology / Q000502:physiology*; D058504:Th17 Cells / Q000382:microbiology / Q000502:physiology*; D014510:Urease / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000737:chemistry / Q000276:immunology; D014611:Vaccination
chemical_list: D000276:Adjuvants, Immunologic; D001426:Bacterial Proteins; D018984:Epitopes, T-Lymphocyte; D020381:Interleukin-17; D007371:Interferon-gamma; D005620:Freund's Adjuvant; D014510:Urease