Department of Microbiology & Immunology, McGill University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada; National Reference Center for Parasitology, Research Institute of the McGill University Health Center, Montreal, Quebec, Canada.
Institute of Parasitology, McGill University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada; School of Biological Sciences, Medical Biology Centre (MBC), Queen's University Belfast, Ireland.
Vaccine. 2015 Jan 3;33(2):346-53. doi: 10.1016/j.vaccine.2014.11.016. Epub 2014 Nov 21.
Schistosomiasis is the most important human helminth infection due to its impact on public health. Worldwide, schistosomiasis is estimated to infect at least 200 million individuals while 700 million are at risk. The clinical manifestations are chronic and significantly decrease an individual's quality of life. Infected individuals suffer from long-term organ pathologies including fibrosis which eventually leads to organ failure. The development of a vaccine against this parasitic disease would contribute to a long-lasting decrease in disease spectrum and transmission. Our group has chosen to target Schistosoma mansoni Cathepsin B as a prospective vaccine candidate. The recombinant protein was tested in the presence of synthetic oligodeoxynucleotides containing unmethylated CpG dinucleotides, which are Toll-like receptor 9 agonists known to stimulate a Th1 response. This formulation conferred a 59% decrease in worm burden as well as a reduction in egg burden. Hepatic egg burden and intestinal egg burden were decreased by 56% and 54% respectively. Immunizations with the formulation elicited robust production of Sm-Cathepsin B specific antibodies, both IgG1 and IgG2c but with the latter predominating. Furthermore, splenocytes isolated from the immunized animals, compared to control animals, had increased secretion levels of key Th1 cytokines, IFN-γ and TNF-α, as well as the chemokine CCL5 when stimulated with recombinant Sm-Cathepsin B. These results highlight the potential of Sm-Cathepsin B/CpG as a vaccine candidate against schistosomiasis.
血吸虫病是最重要的人体寄生虫感染病,因为它对公共卫生有影响。在全球范围内,估计有至少 2 亿人感染血吸虫病,而有 7 亿人面临感染风险。其临床表现为慢性,并显著降低个体的生活质量。受感染的个体患有长期的器官病变,包括纤维化,最终导致器官衰竭。针对这种寄生虫病开发疫苗将有助于长期减少疾病谱和传播。我们的小组选择曼氏血吸虫组织蛋白酶 B 作为有前途的疫苗候选物。在含有未甲基化 CpG 二核苷酸的合成寡脱氧核苷酸存在的情况下测试了重组蛋白,这些二核苷酸是已知能刺激 Th1 反应的 Toll 样受体 9 激动剂。这种配方可使蠕虫负荷降低 59%,同时使卵负荷减少。肝卵负荷和肠卵负荷分别降低了 56%和 54%。用该配方进行免疫接种可引起强烈的 Sm-组织蛋白酶 B 特异性抗体产生,包括 IgG1 和 IgG2c,但以 IgG2c 为主。此外,与对照动物相比,从免疫动物分离的脾细胞在受到重组 Sm-组织蛋白酶 B 刺激时,IFN-γ和 TNF-α等关键 Th1 细胞因子以及趋化因子 CCL5 的分泌水平增加。这些结果强调了 Sm-组织蛋白酶 B/CpG 作为血吸虫病疫苗候选物的潜力。