1. Heterologous expression of Intimin and IpaB fusion protein in Lactococcus lactis and its mucosal delivery elicit protection against pathogenicity of Escherichia coli O157 and Shigella flexneri in a murine model
- Author
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Balakrishna Konduru, Manmohan Parida, and Sreerohini Sagi
- Subjects
CD4-Positive T-Lymphocytes ,0301 basic medicine ,Recombinant Fusion Proteins ,Immunology ,Administration, Oral ,Kaplan-Meier Estimate ,CD8-Positive T-Lymphocytes ,Escherichia coli O157 ,medicine.disease_cause ,Bacterial Adhesion ,Shigella flexneri ,Microbiology ,03 medical and health sciences ,0302 clinical medicine ,Immune system ,Bacterial Proteins ,Splenocyte ,medicine ,Animals ,Humans ,Immunology and Allergy ,Shigella ,Adhesins, Bacterial ,Escherichia coli ,Escherichia coli Infections ,Dysentery, Bacillary ,Intimin ,Pharmacology ,Immunity, Cellular ,Mice, Inbred BALB C ,Vaccines, Synthetic ,biology ,Escherichia coli Proteins ,Lactococcus lactis ,biochemical phenomena, metabolism, and nutrition ,biology.organism_classification ,Antibodies, Bacterial ,Disease Models, Animal ,Titer ,030104 developmental biology ,030220 oncology & carcinogenesis ,Cytokines ,bacteria ,Caco-2 Cells ,HeLa Cells - Abstract
Escherichia coli O157:H7 and Shigella flexneri are the predominant diarrhoeal pathogens and those strains producing Shiga toxins cause life-threatening sequelae including hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS) upon their entry into the host. Intimate adherence of E. coli O157 and invasion of S. flexneri in the host intestinal epithelial cells is mainly mediated by Intimin and IpaB proteins, respectively. In this study, we have synthesized chimera of immunodominant regions of Intimin (eae) and IpaB (ipaB) designated as EI and expressed it in Lactococcus lactis (LL-EI) to develop a combinatorial oral vaccine candidate. Immune parameters and protective efficacy of orally administered LL-EI were assessed in the murine model. Significant EI-specific serum IgG, IgA, and fecal IgA antibody titer were observed in the LL-EI group. Considerable increase in EI-specific splenocyte proliferation and a concurrent upregulation of both Th1 and Th2 cytokines was observed in LL-EI immunized mice. Flow cytometry analysis also revealed a significant increase in CD4 and CD8 cell counts in LL-EI immunized group compared to PBS, LL control group. In vitro studies using LL-EI immunized mice sera showed substantial protection against bacterial adhesion and invasion caused by E. coli O157 and Shigella flexneri¸ respectively. LL-EI immunized group challenged with E. coli O157 ceased fecal shedding within 6 days, and mice challenged with S. flexneri showed 93% survival with minimal bacterial load in the lungs. Our results indicate that LL-EI immunization elicits systemic, mucosal and cell-mediated immune responses, and can be a promising candidate for oral vaccine development against these pathogens.
- Published
- 2020