State Key Laboratory of Veterinary Etiological Biology, Key Laboratory of Veterinary Parasitology of Gansu Province, Lanzhou Veterinary Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Lanzhou, Gansu Province 730046, PR China.
Vaccine. 2013 Jun 28;31(31):3135-9. doi: 10.1016/j.vaccine.2013.05.040. Epub 2013 May 23.
Toxoplasma gondii is a significant zoonotic parasite which can cause congenital infection and abortion in warm-blooded animals and humans. Microneme protein 13 (MIC13) plays an important role in attachment and penetration of the host cell by T. gondii. In this study, a DNA vaccine expressing mic13 of T. gondii was constructed and its protective efficacy was evaluated in Kunming L615(H2k) mice. Immunization with pVAX-TgMIC13 induced a strong immune responses demonstrated by significant lymphocyte proliferation, cytokine production and antibody responses. Immunized mice showed increased survival time (21.3±11.3 days) and reduced number of cysts in brain of mice (57.14%) after challenge with tachyzoites of the virulent T. gondii RH strain and cysts of the T. gondii PRU strain, respectively, demonstrating that T. gondii MIC13 is a potential vaccine candidate, worth being included in future vaccine development against acute and chronic T. gondii infection.
刚地弓形虫是一种重要的动物源性寄生虫，可引起温血动物和人类的先天性感染和流产。微线蛋白 13（MIC13）在弓形虫对宿主细胞的附着和穿透中起重要作用。在本研究中，构建了表达刚地弓形虫 mic13 的 DNA 疫苗，并在昆明 L615（H2k）小鼠中评估了其保护效力。用 pVAX-TgMIC13 免疫可诱导强烈的免疫反应，表现为淋巴细胞增殖、细胞因子产生和抗体反应显著增强。与强毒 RH 株速殖子和 PRU 株弓形虫囊包分别攻击后，免疫小鼠的存活时间（21.3±11.3 天）增加，脑组织中的囊包数量减少（57.14%），表明弓形虫 MIC13 是一种有潜力的候选疫苗，值得在未来的急性和慢性弓形虫感染疫苗开发中加以考虑。
