Institution of Pathogenic Biology, Hengyang Medical School, University of South China, Hengyang, China.
Hunan Province Cooperative Innovation Center for Molecular Target New Drug Study, University of South China, Hengyang, China.
Front Immunol. 2021 Nov 25;12:759474. doi: 10.3389/fimmu.2021.759474. eCollection 2021.
Syphilis, caused by the spirochete subspecies , continues to be a major public health problem worldwide. Recent increases in the number of syphilis cases, in addition to the lack of an efficient vaccine against for humans, highlights an urgent need for the design and development of an efficacious syphilis vaccine. Here, we assess the vaccine potential of the adhesion protein Tp0136 and the outer membrane protein Tp0663. Rabbits were subcutaneously immunized with recombinant proteins Tp0136, Tp0663, or control PBS. Immunization with Tp0136 or Tp0663 generated a strong humoral immune response with high titers of IgG, as assessed by ELISA. Moreover, animals immunized with Tp0136 or Tp0663 exhibited attenuated lesion development, increased cellular infiltration at the lesion sites, and inhibition of treponemal dissemination to distant organs compared to the unimmunized animals. These findings indicate that Tp0136 and Tp0663 are promising syphilis vaccine candidates. Furthermore, these results provide novel and important information for not only understanding the pathogenic mechanisms of spirochetes, but also the development of spirochete-specific subunit vaccines.
梅毒，由螺旋体亚种引起，仍然是全球主要的公共卫生问题。最近梅毒病例数量的增加，加上缺乏针对人类的有效疫苗，凸显了设计和开发有效梅毒疫苗的迫切需要。在这里，我们评估了粘附蛋白 Tp0136 和外膜蛋白 Tp0663 的疫苗潜力。用重组蛋白 Tp0136、Tp0663 或对照 PBS 对兔子进行皮下免疫。通过 ELISA 评估，Tp0136 或 Tp0663 免疫产生了强烈的体液免疫应答，IgG 滴度很高。此外，与未免疫动物相比，Tp0136 或 Tp0663 免疫的动物在病变部位的细胞浸润增加，梅毒螺旋体向远处器官的传播受到抑制，病变发展减弱。这些发现表明 Tp0136 和 Tp0663 是有前途的梅毒疫苗候选物。此外，这些结果不仅为了解螺旋体的致病机制提供了新的重要信息，而且为螺旋体特异性亚单位疫苗的开发提供了新的重要信息。
