Virus-Like Particles Expressing Toxoplasma gondii Rhoptry Protein 18 Induces Better Protection Than Rhoptry Protein 4 against T. gondii Infection

The Korean Journal of Parasitology

Ki-Back Chu^1¹  Hae-Ji Kang^1²  Su-Hwa Lee^1³ 

[1] Biomedical Science Institute, Kyung Hee University School of Medicine, Seoul 02447, Korea^3;Department of Biomedical Science, Graduate School, Kyung Hee University, Seoul 02447, Korea^1;Department of Medical Zoology, Kyung Hee University School of Medicine, Seoul 02447, Korea^2

关键词: Toxoplasma gondii;    virus-like particle;    vaccine;    rhoptry protein 4;    rhoptry protein 18;   

DOI  :  10.3347/kjp.2018.56.5.429

学科分类：生物科学（综合）

来源: The Korean Society for Parasitology

【 摘 要 】

Toxoplasma gondii is a ubiquitous protozoan parasite responsible for causing toxoplasmosis. Preventive measures for toxoplasmosis are currently lacking and as such, development of novel vaccines are of urgent need. In this study, we generated 2 virus-like particles (VLPs) vaccines expressing T. gondii rhoptry protein 4 (ROP4) or rhoptry protein 18 (ROP18) using influenza matrix protein (M1) as a core protein. Mice were intranasally immunized with VLPs vaccines and after the last immunization, mice were challenged with ME49 cysts. Protective efficacy was assessed and compared by determining serum antibody responses, body weight changes and the reduction of cyst counts in the brain. ROP18 VLPs-immunized mice induced greater levels of IgG and IgA antibody responses than those immunized with ROP4 VLPs. ROP18 VLPs immunization significantly reduced body weight loss and the number of brain cysts in mice compared to ROP4 VLPs post-challenge. These results indicate that T. gondii ROP18 VLPs elicited better protective efficacy than ROP4 VLPs, providing important insight into vaccine design strategy.

【 授权许可】

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