Autor: |
Shea K. Roe, Tianmou Zhu, Anatoli Slepenkin, Aym Berges, Jeff Fairman, Luis M. de la Maza, Paola Massari |
Jazyk: |
angličtina |
Rok vydání: |
2024 |
Předmět: |
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Zdroj: |
Vaccines, Vol 12, Iss 7, p 789 (2024) |
Druh dokumentu: |
article |
ISSN: |
2076-393X |
DOI: |
10.3390/vaccines12070789 |
Popis: |
Chlamydia trachomatis (Ct) is the most common cause of bacterial sexually transmitted infections (STIs) worldwide. Ct infections are often asymptomatic in women, leading to severe reproductive tract sequelae. Development of a vaccine against Chlamydia is crucial. The Chlamydia major outer membrane protein (MOMP) is a prime vaccine antigen candidate, and it can elicit both neutralizing antibodies and protective CD4+ T cell responses. We have previously designed chimeric antigens composed of immunogenic variable regions (VDs) and conserved regions (CDs) of MOMP from Chlamydia muridarum (Cm) expressed into a carrier protein (PorB), and we have shown that these were protective in a mouse model of Cm respiratory infection. Here, we generated corresponding constructs based on MOMP from Ct serovar F. Preliminary structure analysis of the three antigens, PorB/VD1-3, PorB/VD1-4 and PorB/VD1-2-4, showed that they retained structure features consistent with those of PorB. The antigens induced robust humoral and cellular responses in mice with different genetic backgrounds. The antibodies were cross-reactive against Ct, but only anti-PorB/VD1-4 and anti-PorB/VD1-2-4 IgG antibodies were neutralizing, likely due to the antigen specificity. The cellular responses included proliferation in vitro and production of IFN-γ by splenocytes following Ct re-stimulation. Our results support further investigation of the PorB/VD antigens as potential protective candidates for a Chlamydia subunit vaccine. |
Databáze: |
Directory of Open Access Journals |
Externí odkaz: |
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