Virus-like particle vaccine displaying Toxoplasma gondii apical membrane antigen 1 induces protection against T. gondii ME49 infection in mice

Min-Ju Kim; Su-Hwa Lee; Hae-Ji Kang; Ki-Back Chu; Hyunwoo Park; Hui Jin; Eun-Kyung Moon; Sung Soo Kim; Fu-Shi Quan

doi:10.1016/j.micpath.2020.104090

Virus-like particle vaccine displaying Toxoplasma gondii apical membrane antigen 1 induces protection against T. gondii ME49 infection in mice

Microb Pathog. 2020 Feb 22:142:104090. doi: 10.1016/j.micpath.2020.104090. Online ahead of print.

Authors

Min-Ju Kim¹, Su-Hwa Lee¹, Hae-Ji Kang¹, Ki-Back Chu¹, Hyunwoo Park², Hui Jin², Eun-Kyung Moon³, Sung Soo Kim⁴, Fu-Shi Quan⁵

Affiliations

¹ Department of Biomedical Science, Graduate School, Kyung Hee University, Seoul 02447, Republic of Korea.
² Health Park Co., Ltd, Seoul, 06627, Republic of Korea.
³ Department of Medical Zoology, Kyung Hee University School of Medicine, Seoul, 02447, Republic of Korea.
⁴ Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Kyung Hee University School of Medicine, Seoul, 02447, Republic of Korea; Medical Research Center for Bioreaction to Reactive Oxygen Species and Biomedical Science Institute, School of Medicine, Graduate School, Kyung Hee University, Seoul, 02447, Republic of Korea.
⁵ Department of Medical Zoology, Kyung Hee University School of Medicine, Seoul, 02447, Republic of Korea; Medical Research Center for Bioreaction to Reactive Oxygen Species and Biomedical Science Institute, School of Medicine, Graduate School, Kyung Hee University, Seoul, 02447, Republic of Korea. Electronic address: fsquan@khu.ac.kr.

PMID: 32097746
DOI: 10.1016/j.micpath.2020.104090

Abstract

Toxoplasmosis is an intracellular parasitic disease caused by the protozoa Toxoplasma gondii, which affects about half of the world's population. In spite of the strenuous endeavors, a T. gondii vaccine for clinical use remains unreported to date. In the present study, we generated virus-like particles (VLPs) containing T. gondii apical membrane antigen 1 (AMA1) and assessed its efficacy in a murine model. VLPs were characterized using western blot and TEM. T. gondii-specific IgG and IgA antibody responses in sera, germinal center B cell responses in spleen, brain cyst counts and their sizes were determined. Elevated T. gondii-specific IgG and IgA antibody responses were observed from the sera of AMA1 VLP-immunized mice. Immunization with AMA1 VLPs enhanced T. gondii-specific antibody-secreting cell responses and germinal center B cell responses upon antigen stimulation. Brain tissue analysis revealed that AMA1 VLP-immunization reduced cyst formation and its size compared to control. Also, VLP-immunized mice were less susceptible to body weight loss and displayed enhanced survival rate compared to the control group. Our results demonstrated that the immune response induced by T. gondii AMA1 VLPs confer partial protection against T. gondii infection and provides important insight into potential T. gondii vaccine design strategy.

Keywords: AMA1; Immune response; Toxoplasma gondii; Virus-like particles (VLPs).