Toxoplasma gondii is an apicomplexan zoonotic protozoan parasite that infects most species of warm-blooded animals, including humans. The heavy incidence and severe or lethal damage caused by T. gondii infection clearly indicate a need for the development of an effective vaccine. T. gondii GRA8 is a member of the dense granules protein family and is used as a marker of acute infection. In the present study, we evaluated the protective immunity induced by DNA vaccination based on a recombinant eukaryotic plasmid, pDsRed2-GRA8, against acute toxoplasmosis in mice. BALB/c mice were intramuscularly immunized with the pDsRed2-GRA8 plasmid and then challenged by infection with the highly virulent GFP-RH strain of T. gondii. The specific immune responses and protective efficacy against T. gondii of this vaccine were analyzed by measuring cytokine and serum antibody titers, splenocyte proliferation assays, and the survival times of mice after challenge. Our results showed that mice immunized with pDsRed2-GRA8 demonstrated specific humoral and cellular responses, induced higher IgG antibody titers with predominant IgG2a production; increased levels of IL-10, IL-12 (p70), IFN-γ, TNF-α, and splenocyte proliferation; and prolonged survival times compared to those of control mice. The present study showed that DNA immunization with pDsRed2-GRA8 induced humoral and cellular immune responses, and all immunized mice showed greater Th1-type immune responses and longer survival times than those of control mice. These results indicated that T. gondii GRA8 DNA immunization induces a partial protective effect against acute toxoplasmosis.
Insight into the current
Toxoplasma gondii
DNA vaccine: a review article
Xirui Zhang, Hao Yuan, Yasser S. Mahmmod, Zipeng Yang, Mengpo Zhao, Yining Song, Shengjun Luo, Xiu-Xiang Zhang, Zi-Guo Yuan Expert Review of Vaccines.2023; 22(1): 66. CrossRef
Co-Immunization with DNA Vaccines Expressing SABP1 and SAG1 Proteins Effectively Enhanced Mice Resistance to Toxoplasma gondii Acute Infection Xiaoyu Sang, Xiang Li, Ran Chen, Ying Feng, Ting He, Xiaohan Zhang, Saeed El-Ashram, Ebtsam Al-Olayan, Na Yang Vaccines.2023; 11(7): 1190. CrossRef
Evaluation of anti‐tick efficiency in rabbits induced by DNA vaccines encoding Haemaphysalis longicornis lipocalin homologue Xiang‐Yuan Fan, Xiao‐Can Xu, Ya‐Xue Wu, Xiao‐Ya Liu, Feng Yang, Yong‐Hong Hu Medical and Veterinary Entomology.2022; 36(4): 511. CrossRef
Review of DNA Vaccine Approaches Against the Parasite Toxoplasma gondii Rosalie C. Warner, Ryan C. Chapman, Brianna N. Davis, Paul H. Davis Journal of Parasitology.2021;[Epub] CrossRef
A systematic review on the role of GRA proteins of Toxoplasma gondii in host immunization Fatemeh Rezaei, Mahdi Sharif, Shahabeddin Sarvi, Seyed Hossein Hejazi, Sargis Aghayan, Abdol Sattar Pagheh, Samira Dodangeh, Ahmad Daryani Journal of Microbiological Methods.2019; 165: 105696. CrossRef
Toxoplasma gondii cathepsin C proteases (TgCPC1, 2, and 3) are important for the growth and survival of T. gondii. In the present study, B-cell and T-cell epitopes of TgCPC1 were predicted using DNAstar and the Immune Epitope Database. A TgCPC1 DNA vaccine was constructed, and its ability to induce protective immune responses against toxoplasmosis in BALB/c mice was evaluated in the presence or absence of the adjuvant α-GalCer. As results, TgCPC1 DNA vaccine with or without adjuvant α-GalCer showed higher levels of IgG and IgG2a in the serum, as well as IL-2 and IFN-γ in the spleen compared to controls (PBS, pEGFP-C1, and α-Galcer). Upon challenge infection with tachyzoites of T. gondii (RH), pCPC1/α-Galcer immunized mice showed the longest survival among all the groups. Mice vaccinated with DNA vaccine without adjuvant (pCPC1) showed better protective immunity compared to other controls (PBS, pEGFP-C1, and α-Galcer). These results indicate that a DNA vaccine encoding TgCPC1 is a potential vaccine candidate against toxoplasmosis.
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Insight into the current
Toxoplasma gondii
DNA vaccine: a review article
Xirui Zhang, Hao Yuan, Yasser S. Mahmmod, Zipeng Yang, Mengpo Zhao, Yining Song, Shengjun Luo, Xiu-Xiang Zhang, Zi-Guo Yuan Expert Review of Vaccines.2023; 22(1): 66. CrossRef
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Review of DNA Vaccine Approaches Against the Parasite Toxoplasma gondii Rosalie C. Warner, Ryan C. Chapman, Brianna N. Davis, Paul H. Davis Journal of Parasitology.2021;[Epub] CrossRef
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Toxoplasma gondii, an obligate intracellular protozoan parasite of the phylum Apicomplexa, can infect all warm-blooded vertebrates, including humans, livestock, and marine mammals. The aim of this study was to investigate whether superoxide dismutase (SOD) of T. gondii can be used as a new marker for genetic study or a potential vaccine candidate. The partial genome region of the SOD gene was amplified and sequenced from 10 different T. gondii isolates from different parts of the world, and all the sequences were examined by PCR-RFLP, sequence analysis, and phylogenetic reconstruction. The results showed that partial SOD gene sequences ranged from 1,702 bp to 1,712 bp and A + T contents varied from 50.1% to 51.1% among all examined isolates. Sequence alignment analysis identified total 43 variable nucleotide positions, and these results showed that 97.5% sequence similarity of SOD gene among all examined isolates. Phylogenetic analysis revealed that these SOD sequences were not an effective molecular marker for differential identification of T. gondii strains. The research demonstrated existence of low sequence variation in the SOD gene among T. gondii strains of different genotypes from different hosts and geographical regions.
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Trichomonas vaginalis secretes a number of proteases which are suspected to be the cause of pathogenesis; however, little is understood how they manipulate host cells. The mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) regulates cell growth, cell proliferation, cell motility, cell survival, protein synthesis, and transcription. We detected various types of metalloproteinases including GP63 protein from T. vaginalis trophozoites, and T. vaginalis GP63 metalloproteinase was confirmed by sequencing and western blot. When SiHa cells were stimulated with live T. vaginalis, T. vaginalis excretory-secretory products (ESP) or T. vaginalis lysate, live T. vaginalis and T. vaginalis ESP induced the mTOR cleavage in both time- and parasite load-dependent manner, but T. vaginalis lysate did not. Pretreatment of T. vaginalis with a metalloproteinase inhibitor, 1,10-phenanthroline, completely disappeared the mTOR cleavage in SiHa cells. Collectively, T. vaginalis metallopeptidase induces host cell mTOR cleavage, which may be related to survival of the parasite.
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