Title |
Protective immunity against acute toxoplasmosis in BALB/c mice induced by a DNA vaccine encoding Toxoplasma gondii elongation factor 1-alpha
|
---|---|
Published in |
BMC Infectious Diseases, October 2015
|
DOI | 10.1186/s12879-015-1220-5 |
Pubmed ID | |
Authors |
Shuai Wang, YuJian Wang, XiaoNi Sun, ZhenChao Zhang, TingQi Liu, Javaid Ali Gadahi, Ibrahim Adam Hassan, LiXin Xu, RuoFeng Yan, XiaoKai Song, XiangRui Li |
Abstract |
Toxoplasma gondii can infect almost all warm-blood animals including human beings. The high incidence and severe damage that can be caused by T. gondii infection clearly indicates the need for the development of a vaccine. T. gondii elongation factor 1-alpha (TgEF-1α) plays an important role in pathogenesis and host cell invasion for this parasite. The aim of this study was to evaluate the immune protective efficacy of a DNA vaccine encoding TgEF-1α gene against acute T. gondii infection in mice. A DNA vaccine (pVAX-EF-1α) encoding T. gondii EF-1a (TgEF-1α) gene was constructed and its immune response and protective efficacy against lethal challenge in BALB/c mice were evaluated. Mice inoculated with the pVAX-EF-1α vaccine had a high level of specific anti-T. gondii antibodies and produced high levels of IFN-gamma, interleukin (IL)-4, and IL-17. The expression levels of MHC-I and MHC-II molecules as well as the percentages of both CD4(+) and CD8(+) T cells in mice vaccinated with pVAX-EF-1α were significantly increased (p < 0.05), compared with those in all the mice from control groups (blank control, PBS, and pVAXI). Immunization with pVAX-EF-1α significantly (p < 0.05) prolonged mouse survival time to 14.1 ± 1.7 days after challenge infection with the virulent T. gondii RH strain, compared with mice in the control groups which died within 8 days. DNA vaccination with pVAX-EF-1α triggered strong humoral and cellular responses and induced effective protection in mice against acute T. gondii infection, indicating that TgEF-1α is a promising vaccine candidate against acute toxoplasmosis. |
X Demographics
Geographical breakdown
Country | Count | As % |
---|---|---|
Unknown | 3 | 100% |
Demographic breakdown
Type | Count | As % |
---|---|---|
Members of the public | 3 | 100% |
Mendeley readers
Geographical breakdown
Country | Count | As % |
---|---|---|
Unknown | 33 | 100% |
Demographic breakdown
Readers by professional status | Count | As % |
---|---|---|
Student > Master | 7 | 21% |
Student > Ph. D. Student | 5 | 15% |
Other | 4 | 12% |
Student > Bachelor | 3 | 9% |
Professor > Associate Professor | 2 | 6% |
Other | 6 | 18% |
Unknown | 6 | 18% |
Readers by discipline | Count | As % |
---|---|---|
Agricultural and Biological Sciences | 9 | 27% |
Veterinary Science and Veterinary Medicine | 7 | 21% |
Medicine and Dentistry | 4 | 12% |
Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology | 3 | 9% |
Immunology and Microbiology | 1 | 3% |
Other | 1 | 3% |
Unknown | 8 | 24% |