Fan Hua, Guo Jiu-Ying, Ma Su-Li, Zhang Nan, An Chun-Li
Department of Pathogen Biology, College of Basic Medical Sciences, China Medical University, Shenyang 110122, China.
Microbiol Immunol. 2016 Jun;60(6):397-406. doi: 10.1111/1348-0421.12386.
Pneumocystis spp. are opportunistic fungal pathogens that are closely associated with severe pneumonia and pulmonary complications in patients with impaired immunity. In this study, the antigenic epitopes of the gene encoding the 55 kDa antigen fragment of Pneumocystis (p55), which may play an important role in Pneumocystis pneumonia, were analyzed. A gene containing tandem variants of the p55 antigen was synthesized and named the tandem antigen gene (TAG). TAG's potential as a DNA vaccine was assessed in immunosuppressed rats. Immunization with p55-TAG DNA vaccine significantly reduced both the pathogen burden and lung-weight to body-weight ratios. Additionally, p55-TAG vaccination in immunosuppressed rats elicited both cell-mediated and humoral immunity.
肺孢子菌属是机会性真菌病原体，与免疫功能受损患者的严重肺炎和肺部并发症密切相关。在本研究中，分析了可能在肺孢子菌肺炎中起重要作用的肺孢子菌55 kDa抗原片段（p55）编码基因的抗原表位。合成了一个包含p55抗原串联变体的基因，并将其命名为串联抗原基因（TAG）。在免疫抑制大鼠中评估了TAG作为DNA疫苗的潜力。用p55-TAG DNA疫苗免疫显著降低了病原体负荷和肺重与体重之比。此外，免疫抑制大鼠接种p55-TAG疫苗可引发细胞介导免疫和体液免疫。
