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Passive Immunity and Antibody Response Induced by <i>Toxoplasma gondii</i> VLP Immunization
oleh: Hae-Ji Kang, Min-Ju Kim, Ki-Back Chu, Su-Hwa Lee, Eun-Kyung Moon, Fu-Shi Quan
Format: | Article |
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Diterbitkan: | MDPI AG 2021-04-01 |
Deskripsi
Passive immunity can provide immediate protection against infectious pathogens. To date, only a few studies have investigated the effect of passive immunization against <i>Toxoplasma gondii</i>, and the use of immune sera acquired from VLP-vaccinated mice for passive immunity assessment remains unreported. In this study, immune sera were produced by a single immunization with virus-like particles (VLPs) expressing the inner membrane complex (IMC), rhoptry protein 18 (ROP18), and microneme protein 8 (MIC8) of <i>Toxoplasma gondii</i>, with or without a CpG-ODN adjuvant. The passive immunization of immune sera conferred protection in mice, as indicated by their potent parasite-specific antibody response, lessened brain cyst counts, lower bodyweight loss, and enhanced survival. In order to confirm that the immune sera of the VLP-immunized mice were truly protective, the antibody responses and other immunological parameters were measured in the VLP-immunized mice. We found that VLP immunization induced higher levels of parasite-specific IgG, IgG subclass, and IgM antibody responses in the sera and intestines than in the controls. Enhanced Th1 and Th2-associated cytokines in the spleen, diminished brain cyst counts, and lessened body weight loss were found following <i>T. gondii</i> ME49 challenge infection. These results suggest that passive immunization with the immune sera acquired from VLP-vaccinated mice can confer adequate protection against <i>T. gondii</i> infection.