title: Enhancing immune responses to a DNA vaccine encoding Toxoplasma gondii GRA14 by calcium phosphate nanoparticles as an adjuvant.
abstract: Several approaches have been used to improve the immunogenicity of DNA vaccines. In the current study, we constructed the plasmid encoding T. gondii dense granule 14 (GRA14) and investigated the immunological properties of calcium phosphate nanoparticles (CaPNs) as nano-adjuvant to enhance the protective efficacy of pcGRA14. BALB/c mice intramuscularly injected three times at two-week intervals and the immune responses were evaluated using lymphocyte proliferation assay, cytokine and antibody measurements, survival times, and parasite load of mice challenged with the virulent T. gondii RH strain. The results showed that the immune responses were induced in mice receiving pcGRA14 DNA vaccine. Interestingly, pcGRA14 coated with nanoparticles led to statistically significant enhancements of cellular and humoral immune responses against Toxoplasma infection (P<0.05). After challenge with RH strain of T. gondii, immunized mice with pcGRA14 showed prolong survival time compared to control groups (P<0.05). In addition, pcGRA14 coated with nano-adjuvant exhibited the lowest parasitic load in the infected mice tissues. For the first time, our data indicate that the pcGRA14 coated with CaPN was more effective for stimulation of immune responses and should be considered as an adjuvant in the design of vaccines against toxoplasmosis.
authors.affiliation: Immunology Research Center, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Tabriz, Iran.
authors.forename: Ehsan
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Ahmadpour
authors.affiliation: Toxoplasmosis Research Center, Mazandaran University of Medical Sciences, Sari, Iran.
authors.forename: Shahabeddin
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Sarvi
authors.affiliation: Molecular and Cell Biology Research Center, Mazandaran University of Medical Sciences, Sari, Iran.
authors.forename: Mohammad Bagher
authors.initials: MB
authors.lastname: Hashemi Soteh
authors.affiliation: Toxoplasmosis Research Center, Mazandaran University of Medical Sciences, Sari, Iran.
authors.forename: Mehdi
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Sharif
authors.affiliation: School of Medicine, Shahroud University of Medical Sciences, Shahroud, Iran.
authors.forename: Mohammad Taghi
authors.initials: MT
authors.lastname: Rahimi
authors.affiliation: Molecular and Cell Biology Research Center, Mazandaran University of Medical Sciences, Sari, Iran.
authors.forename: Reza
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Valadan
authors.affiliation: Molecular and Cell Biology Research Center, Mazandaran University of Medical Sciences, Sari, Iran.
authors.forename: Mohsen
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Tehrani
authors.affiliation: Biostatistics Department, Mazandaran University of Medical Sciences, Sari, Iran.
authors.forename: Alireza
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Khalilian
authors.affiliation: Toxoplasmosis Research Center, Mazandaran University of Medical Sciences, Sari, Iran.
authors.forename: Mahbobeh
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Montazeri
authors.affiliation: Molecular Biology Research Center, Baqiyatallah University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Mahdi
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Fasihi-Ramandi
authors.affiliation: Toxoplasmosis Research Center, Mazandaran University of Medical Sciences, Sari, Iran. Electronic address: daryanii@yahoo.com.
authors.forename: Ahmad
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Daryani
mesh_terms: D000276:Adjuvants, Immunologic / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000737:chemistry; D000818:Animals; D000953:Antigens, Protozoan / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology*; D002130:Calcium Phosphates / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000737:chemistry; D049109:Cell Proliferation; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D006801:Humans; D008213:Lymphocyte Activation; D008297:Male; D051379:Mice; D008807:Mice, Inbred BALB C; D053758:Nanoparticles / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000737:chemistry; D059208:Parasite Load; D015800:Protozoan Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology*; D016052:Protozoan Vaccines / Q000276:immunology*; D014122:Toxoplasma / Q000276:immunology*; D014123:Toxoplasmosis / Q000276:immunology*; D019444:Vaccines, DNA / Q000276:immunology*
chemical_list: D000276:Adjuvants, Immunologic; D000953:Antigens, Protozoan; D002130:Calcium Phosphates; C000626012:GRA14 antigen, Toxoplasma gondii; D015800:Protozoan Proteins; D016052:Protozoan Vaccines; D019444:Vaccines, DNA; C020243:calcium phosphate
keywords: Calcium phosphate nanoparticles; DNA vaccine; Dense granule; GRA14 gene; Immune response; Nano-adjuvant; Toxoplasma gondii