AUTHOR=Yu ZhengQing , He Ke , Cao WanDi , Aleem Muhammad Tahir , Yan RuoFeng , Xu LiXin , Song XiaoKai , Li XiangRui 

TITLE=Nano vaccines for T. gondii Ribosomal P2 Protein With Nanomaterials as a Promising DNA Vaccine Against Toxoplasmosis

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Immunology

VOLUME=13

YEAR=2022

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/immunology/articles/10.3389/fimmu.2022.839489

DOI=10.3389/fimmu.2022.839489

ISSN=1664-3224

ABSTRACT=<p>Caused by <italic>Toxoplasma gondii</italic>, toxoplasmosis has aroused great threats to public health around the world. So far, no effective vaccine or drug is commercially available, and the demands for a safe and effective therapeutic strategy have become more and more urgent. In the current study, we constructed a DNA vaccine encoding <italic>T. gondii</italic> ribosomal P2 protein (TgP2) and denoted as TgP2-pVAX1 plasmid. To improve the immunoprotection, nanomaterial poly-lactic-<italic>co</italic>-glycolic acid (PLGA) and chitosan were used as the delivery vehicle to construct TgP2-pVAX1/PLGA and TgP2-pVAX1/CS nanospheres. Before vaccinations in BALB/c mice, TgP2-pVAX1 plasmids were transiently transfected into Human Embryonic Kidney (HEK) 293-T cells, and the expression of the eukaryotic plasmids was detected by laser confocal microscopy and Western blotting. Then the immunoprotection of naked DNA plasmids and their two nano-encapsulations were evaluated in the laboratory animal model. According to the investigations of antibody, cytokine, dendritic cell (DC) maturation, molecule expression, splenocyte proliferation, and T lymphocyte proportion, TgP2-pVAX1 plasmid delivered by two types of nanospheres could elicit a mixed Th1/Th2 immune response and Th1 immunity as the dominant. In addition, TgP2-pVAX1/PLGA and TgP2-pVAX1/CS nanospheres have great advantages in enhancing immunity against a lethal dose of <italic>T. gondii</italic> RH strain challenge. All these results suggested that TgP2-pVAX1 plasmids delivered by PLGA or chitosan nanomaterial could be promising vaccines in resisting toxoplasmosis and deserve further investigations and applications.</p>