title: Immunological evaluation of a DNA cocktail vaccine with co-delivery of calcium phosphate nanoparticles (CaPNs) against the Toxoplasma gondii RH strain in BALB/c mice.
abstract: Many recent studies have been conducted to evaluate protective immunity mediated by DNA vaccines against toxoplasmosis. Cocktail DNA vaccines showed better immune responses compared to single vaccines. The objective of the current study was to evaluate the protective efficacy of rhomboid 4 (ROM4) and cocktail DNA vaccines (ROM4 + GRA14) of the Toxoplasma gondii RH strain with or without coated calcium phosphate nanoparticles (CaPNs) as the adjuvant to improve the immunogenicity against the T. gondii RH strain in BALB/c mice. Cocktail DNA vaccines of pcROM4 + pcGRA14 of the T. gondii RH strain were constructed. CaPNs were synthesized and the cocktail DNA vaccine was coated with the adjuvant of CaPNs. Immunogenicity and the protective effects of cocktail DNA vaccines with or without CaPNs against lethal challenge were evaluated in BALB/c mice. pcROM4 and cocktail DNA vaccine coated with CaPNs significantly enhanced cellular and humoral immune responses against Toxoplasma compared to pcROM4 and cocktail DNA vaccine without CaPNs (p < 0.05). These findings indicate that the survival time of immunized mice after challenge with the RH strain of T. gondii was increased compared to that of controls and the DNA vaccine provided significant protection in mice (p < 0.05). The CaPN-based cocktail DNA vaccine of pcROM4 + pcGRA14 showed the longest survival time compared to the other groups. Co-immunization with CaPN-based cocktail DNA vaccine (pcROM4 + pcGRA14) boosted immune responses and increased the protective efficacy against acute toxoplasmosis in BALB/c mice compared to both single gene and bivalent DNA vaccine without nano-adjuvants.
authors.affiliation: School of Medicine, Shahroud University of Medical Sciences, Shahroud, Iran.|Toxoplasmosis Research Center (TRC), Mazandaran University of Medical Sciences, Sari, Iran.
authors.forename: Mohammad Taghi
authors.initials: MT
authors.lastname: Rahimi
authors.affiliation: Toxoplasmosis Research Center (TRC), Mazandaran University of Medical Sciences, Sari, Iran.|Parasitology and Mycology Department, Toxoplasmosis Research Center (TRC), Sari Medical School, Mazandaran University of Medical Sciences, P.O. Box 48175-1665, 18th km of Khazar Abad Road, Sari, Mazandaran Province, Iran.
authors.forename: Shahabeddin
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Sarvi
authors.affiliation: Toxoplasmosis Research Center (TRC), Mazandaran University of Medical Sciences, Sari, Iran.|Parasitology and Mycology Department, Toxoplasmosis Research Center (TRC), Sari Medical School, Mazandaran University of Medical Sciences, P.O. Box 48175-1665, 18th km of Khazar Abad Road, Sari, Mazandaran Province, Iran.
authors.forename: Mahdi
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Sharif
authors.affiliation: Immunology Department, Faculty of Medicine, Mazandaran University of Medical Sciences, Sari, Iran.
authors.forename: Saeid
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Abediankenari
authors.affiliation: Infectious and Tropical Diseases Research Center, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Tabriz, Iran.
authors.forename: Ehsan
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Ahmadpour
authors.affiliation: Immunology Department, Faculty of Medicine, Mazandaran University of Medical Sciences, Sari, Iran.|Molecular and Cell Biology Research Center (MCBRC), Faculty of Medicine, Mazandaran University of Medical Sciences, Sari, Mazandaran, Iran.
authors.forename: Reza
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Valadan
authors.affiliation: Molecular Biology Research Center, Baqiyatallah University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Mahdi Fasihi-
authors.initials: MF
authors.lastname: Ramandie
authors.affiliation: Toxoplasmosis Research Center (TRC), Mazandaran University of Medical Sciences, Sari, Iran.|Student Research Committee, Mazandaran University of Medical Sciences, Sari, Iran.
authors.forename: Seyed-Abdollah
authors.initials: SA
authors.lastname: Hosseini
authors.affiliation: Toxoplasmosis Research Center (TRC), Mazandaran University of Medical Sciences, Sari, Iran. daryanii@yahoo.com.|Parasitology and Mycology Department, Toxoplasmosis Research Center (TRC), Sari Medical School, Mazandaran University of Medical Sciences, P.O. Box 48175-1665, 18th km of Khazar Abad Road, Sari, Mazandaran Province, Iran. daryanii@yahoo.com.
authors.forename: Ahmad
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Daryani
mesh_terms: D000276:Adjuvants, Immunologic / Q000235:genetics; D000818:Animals; D000913:Antibodies, Protozoan / Q000276:immunology; D002130:Calcium Phosphates / Q000737:chemistry; D004247:DNA; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D056724:Immunity, Humoral; D007114:Immunization; D007074:Immunoglobulin G / Q000276:immunology; D051379:Mice; D008807:Mice, Inbred BALB C; D053758:Nanoparticles / Q000737:chemistry; D015800:Protozoan Proteins / Q000235:genetics; D016052:Protozoan Vaccines / Q000276:immunology; D014122:Toxoplasma / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology*; D014124:Toxoplasmosis, Animal / Q000276:immunology* / Q000469:parasitology / Q000517:prevention & control; D014611:Vaccination; D019444:Vaccines, DNA / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology*
chemical_list: D000276:Adjuvants, Immunologic; D000913:Antibodies, Protozoan; D002130:Calcium Phosphates; D007074:Immunoglobulin G; D015800:Protozoan Proteins; D016052:Protozoan Vaccines; D019444:Vaccines, DNA; D004247:DNA; C020243:calcium phosphate
keywords: Adjuvant; DNA vaccine; Dense granule 14; Immune response; Rhomboid 4; Toxoplasma gondii