title: An oral chitosan DNA vaccine against nodavirus improves transcription of cell-mediated cytotoxicity and interferon genes in the European sea bass juveniles gut and survival upon infection.
abstract: Vaccines for fish need to be improved for the aquaculture sector, with DNA vaccines and the oral administration route providing the most promising improvements. In this study, we have created an oral chitosan-encapsulated DNA vaccine (CP-pNNV) for the nodavirus (NNV) in order to protect the very susceptible European sea bass (Dicentrarchus labrax). Our data show that the oral CP-pNNV vaccine failed to induce serum circulating or neutralizing specific antibodies (immunoglobulin M) or to up-regulate their gene expression in the posterior gut. However, the vaccine up-regulated the expression of genes related to the cell-mediated cytotoxicity (CMC; tcrb and cd8a) and the interferon pathway (IFN; ifn, mx and ifng). In addition, 3 months after vaccination, challenged fish showed a retarded onset of fish death and lower cumulative mortality with a relative survival of 45%. Thus, we created a chitosan-encapsulated DNA vaccine against NNV that is partly protective to European sea bass juveniles and up-regulates the transcription of genes related to CMC and IFN. However, further studies are needed to improve the anti-NNV vaccine and to understand its mechanisms.
authors.affiliation: Centro Oceanográfico de Murcia, Instituto Español de Oceanografía (IEO), Carretera de la Azohía s/n, Puerto de Mazarrón, Murcia, Spain.
authors.forename: Yulema
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Valero
authors.affiliation: Department of Hydrobiology, National Research Center, Giza, Egypt.
authors.forename: Elham
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Awad
authors.affiliation: Dipartimento per l'Innovazione nei Sistemi Biologici Agroalimentari e Forestali, Università della Tuscia, Italy.
authors.forename: Francesco
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Buonocore
authors.affiliation: Centro Oceanográfico de Murcia, Instituto Español de Oceanografía (IEO), Carretera de la Azohía s/n, Puerto de Mazarrón, Murcia, Spain.
authors.forename: Marta
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Arizcun
authors.affiliation: Fish Innate Immune System Group, Department of Cell Biology and Histology, Faculty of Biology, Regional Campus of International Excellence "Campus Mare Nostrum", University of Murcia, Murcia, Spain.
authors.forename: M Ángeles
authors.initials: MÁ
authors.lastname: Esteban
authors.affiliation: Fish Innate Immune System Group, Department of Cell Biology and Histology, Faculty of Biology, Regional Campus of International Excellence "Campus Mare Nostrum", University of Murcia, Murcia, Spain.
authors.forename: José
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Meseguer
authors.affiliation: Centro Oceanográfico de Murcia, Instituto Español de Oceanografía (IEO), Carretera de la Azohía s/n, Puerto de Mazarrón, Murcia, Spain.
authors.forename: Elena
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Chaves-Pozo
authors.affiliation: Fish Innate Immune System Group, Department of Cell Biology and Histology, Faculty of Biology, Regional Campus of International Excellence "Campus Mare Nostrum", University of Murcia, Murcia, Spain. Electronic address: alcuesta@um.es.
authors.forename: Alberto
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Cuesta
mesh_terms: D000284:Administration, Oral; D000818:Animals; D001492:Bass / Q000276:immunology*; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D048271:Chitosan / Q000276:immunology*; D003602:Cytotoxicity, Immunologic / Q000235:genetics; D005393:Fish Diseases / Q000276:immunology*; D007111:Immunity, Cellular / Q000235:genetics; D007372:Interferons / Q000235:genetics; D007422:Intestines / Q000276:immunology* / Q000821:virology; D030381:Nodaviridae / Q000276:immunology*; D012327:RNA Virus Infections / Q000276:immunology*; D014158:Transcription, Genetic; D014611:Vaccination; D019444:Vaccines, DNA / Q000276:immunology*
chemical_list: D019444:Vaccines, DNA; D007372:Interferons; D048271:Chitosan
keywords: Cell-mediated cytotoxicity; Chitosan; European sea bass; Interferon; Nodavirus; Oral vaccine