title: Immuno-Efficacy of aT. gondiiSecreted Protein with an Altered Thrombospondin Repeat (TgSPATR) As a Novel DNA Vaccine Candidate against Acute Toxoplasmosis in BALB/c Mice.
abstract: Toxoplasma gondii(T.gondii) is distributed worldwide and infects most species of warm-blooded animals, including humans. Toxoplasmosis has serious consequences, especially in people with an impaired or immature immune system. Thus, an effective vaccine is urgently required. Secretory microneme proteins are essential for the adhesion and invasion ofT. gondii. The gene encoding the microneme protein,T. gondiisecreted protein with an altered thrombospondin repeat (TgSPATR), we constructed a recombinant eukaryotic plasmid, pVAX1-TgSPATR, as a DNA vaccine, injected it intramuscularly into BALB/c mice and evaluated the induced immune response. Lymphocyte proliferation assays, cytokine (IFN-γ, IL-2, IL-4, IL-10), and antibody determinations showed that mice immunized with pVAX1-TgSPATR produced humoral and mixed Th1/Th2 type cellular immune responses. The survival times of mice immunized with pVAX1-TgSPATR were also significantly prolonged (15.7 ± 1.42 days) compared with control groups, which died within 7 days of challenge (p< 0.05). The current study indicated that pVAX1-TgSPATR induce aT. gondiispecific immune response and might be a promising vaccine candidate against toxoplasmosis. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report to evaluate the immunoprotective value of TgSPATR againstT. gondii.
authors.affiliation: Immunology and Biochemistry Laboratory, Institute of Parasitic Diseases, Zhejiang Academy of Medical Sciences Hangzhou, China.
authors.forename: Bin
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Zheng
authors.affiliation: Immunology and Biochemistry Laboratory, Institute of Parasitic Diseases, Zhejiang Academy of Medical Sciences Hangzhou, China.
authors.forename: Jianzu
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Ding
authors.affiliation: Immunology and Biochemistry Laboratory, Institute of Parasitic Diseases, Zhejiang Academy of Medical Sciences Hangzhou, China.
authors.forename: Xiaoheng
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: Jiaxing Vocational Technical College Jiaxing, China.
authors.forename: Haijie
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Yu
authors.affiliation: Immunology and Biochemistry Laboratory, Institute of Parasitic Diseases, Zhejiang Academy of Medical Sciences Hangzhou, China.
authors.forename: Di
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Lou
authors.affiliation: Immunology and Biochemistry Laboratory, Institute of Parasitic Diseases, Zhejiang Academy of Medical Sciences Hangzhou, China.
authors.forename: Qunbo
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Tong
authors.affiliation: Immunology and Biochemistry Laboratory, Institute of Parasitic Diseases, Zhejiang Academy of Medical Sciences Hangzhou, China.
authors.forename: Qingming
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Kong
authors.affiliation: Immunology and Biochemistry Laboratory, Institute of Parasitic Diseases, Zhejiang Academy of Medical Sciences Hangzhou, China.
authors.forename: Shaohong
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Lu
keywords: DNA plasmid; TgSPATR; Toxoplasma gondii; toxoplasmosis; vaccine