Autor: |
Min Xia, Daxin Chen, Valeria Endresz, Ildiko Faludi, Andrea Szabo, Eva Gonczol, Vijay Kakkar, Xinjie Lu |
Jazyk: |
angličtina |
Rok vydání: |
2013 |
Předmět: |
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Zdroj: |
PLoS ONE, Vol 8, Iss 12, p e81056 (2013) |
Druh dokumentu: |
article |
ISSN: |
1932-6203 |
DOI: |
10.1371/journal.pone.0081056 |
Popis: |
OBJECTIVE: To investigate the antigenic effect of a peptide containing two epitopes of Chlamydia pneumoniae (Cpn) on atherosclerotic lesion formation in mice infected with Cpn. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Six-week-old Apob(tm2Sgy)Ldlr(tm1Her)/J mice were immunized using a repetitive immunization multiple-sites strategy with KLH-conjugated peptides derived from the major outer membrane protein and the putative outer membrane protein 5 of Cpn. Mice were fed a high-fat diet and infected with Cpn twice during the 10-week diet period. Lesions were evaluated histologically; local and systemic immune responses were analyzed by immunohistochemistry of aorta samples and cytokine measurements in plasma samples and splenocyte supernatants. RESULTS: Mice immunized with the combined Cpn peptide showed a greater reduction in lesion size compared to mice immunized with either epitope alone [54.7% vs 39.8% or 41.72%] and was also associated with a significant decrease in lesion area in descending aortas compared with those in controls (88.9% for combined Cpn peptide, 81.9% for MOMP peptide and 75.7% for Omp5, respectively). This effect was associated with a shift in the cellular composition of plaques towards decreased inflammatory cell and increased regulatory T-cell content. Additionally, the effect was also connected with decreased secretion of proinflammatory cytokines and increased production of anti-inflammatory cytokines demonstrated in plasma and in supernatant on stimulated spleen cells. CONCLUSIONS: Atherosclerotic lesion formation may be promoted by Cpn infection in the presence of a high-fat diet, and reduced by immunization with the combined Cpn peptide. The combined peptide has more potential than either epitope alone in reducing atherosclerotic lesion development through Treg expansion. |
Databáze: |
Directory of Open Access Journals |
Externí odkaz: |
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