Immunization with a recombinant fusion protein protects mice against Helicobacter pylori infection

• Published in: Vaccine Vol. 36; no. 34; pp. 5124 - 5132
• Main Authors: Ghasemi, Amir, Mohammad, Nazanin, Mautner, Josef, Taghipour Karsabet, Mehrnaz, Amani, Jafar, Ardjmand, Abolfazl, Vakili, Zarichehr
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Netherlands Elsevier Ltd 16.08.2018; Elsevier Limited
• Subjects: Adjuvant; Adjuvants; Adjuvants, Immunologic - administration & dosage; Amino acids; Animals; Antibiotics; Antibodies, Bacterial - blood; Antigens; Antigens, Bacterial - immunology; Bacteria; Bacterial Load; Bacterial Proteins - immunology; Bacterial Vaccines - immunology; Chimeric; Cholera; Cholera toxin; Chronic infection; CpG islands; Cytokines; Disease control; Experiments; Female; Fusion protection; Fusion protein; Gastric cancer; Gastritis; Helicobacter Infections - immunology; Helicobacter Infections - prevention & control; Helicobacter pylori; Immune response (cell-mediated); Immune response (humoral); Immunity, Cellular; Immunization; Immunoglobulin A; Immunoglobulin A - blood; Immunoglobulin G; Infections; Mice; Mice, Inbred C57BL; Oligodeoxyribonucleotides - administration & dosage; Oligonucleotides; Polypeptides; Proteins; Recombinant Fusion Proteins - immunology; Stomach; Toxins; Vaccines; Waterborne diseases; Iran; United States > US; Germany; Immunization; Adjuvant; Chimeric; Helicobacter pylori; Fusion protection
• ISSN: 0264-410X; 1873-2518
• DOI: 10.1016/j.vaccine.2018.07.033

More than 50% of the world's population is infected with the bacterium Helicobacter pylori. If left untreated, infection with H. pylori can cause chronic gastritis and peptic ulcer disease, which may progress into gastric cancer. Owing to the limited efficacy of anti-H. pylori antibiotic therapy in clinical practice, the development of a protective vaccine to combat this pathogen has been a tempting goal for several years. In this study, a chimeric gene coding for the antigenic parts of H. pylori FliD, UreB, VacA, and CagL was generated and expressed in bacteria and the potential of the resulting fusion protein (rFUVL) to induce humoral and cellular immune responses and to provide protection against H. pylori infection was evaluated in mice. Three different immunization adjuvants were tested along with rFUVL: CpG oligodeoxynucleotides (CpG ODN), Addavax, and Cholera toxin subunit B. Compared to the control group that had received PBS, vaccinated mice showed significantly higher cellular recall responses and antigen-specific IgG2a, IgG1, and gastric IgA antibody titers. Importantly, rFUVL immunized mice exhibited a reduction of about three orders of magnitude in their stomach bacterial loads. Thus, adjuvanted rFUVL might be considered as a promising vaccine candidate for the control of H. pylori infection.