Investigation of the Cellular Immune Response to Recombinant Fragments of Filamentous Hemagglutinin and Pertactin of Bordetella Pertussis in Balb/C Mice Publisher Pubmed



Bakhshaei P¹ ; Kazemi MH¹ ; Golara M¹ ; Abdolmaleki S¹ ; Khosravieghbal R¹ ; Khoshnoodi J¹ ; Judaki MA¹ ; Salimi V² ; Douraghi M³ ; Jedditehrani M⁴ ; Shokri F^{1, 4}
Source: Journal of Interferon and Cytokine Research Published:2018

Abstract

Vaccination with whole-cell or acellular (Ac) vaccines has been very effective for the control of pertussis. The immune response to Ac vaccines has been generally associated with a shift toward the Th2 profile. In the present study, overlapping recombinant fragments of filamentous hemagglutinin (FHA) and pertactin (PRN) were produced in Escherichia coli. BALB/c mice were immunized with recombinant FHA and PRN together with the native pertussis toxin and alum or CpG as adjuvant. Immunized mice were subsequently aerosol challenged with Bordetella pertussis. Bacterial growth was assessed in bronchoalveolar lavage samples and the levels of cytokines were quantitated in supernatants of stimulated splenocytes by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Our results demonstrated that both PRN and FHA antigens were able to induce IFN-γ, IL-4, and to some extent IL-17 cytokines in challenged mice. The level of IFN-γ was higher in response to CpG formulated antigens. These findings indicate immunoprotective efficacy of our recombinant FHA and PRN antigens in mice. © Copyright 2018, Mary Ann Liebert, Inc. 2018.