Vet World Vol.15 February-2022 Article-7
Research Article
Veterinary World, 15(2): 281-287
https://doi.org/10.14202/vetworld.2022.281-287
Shigella flexneri vaccine development: Oral administration of peptides derived from the 49.8 kDa pili protein subunit activates the intestinal immune response in mice
2. Study Program of Medical Laboratory Technology, Institute of Health and Science Technology Wiyata Husada, Samarinda, Indonesia.
3. Department of Parasitology, Faculty of Medicine, Universitas Brawijaya, Malang, Indonesia.
4. Department of Biochemistry, Faculty of Medicine, Universitas Brawijaya, Malang, Indonesia.
5. Department of Clinical Microbiology, Faculty of Medicine, Universitas Brawijaya, Malang, Indonesia.
Background and Aim: The morbidity and mortality of Shigella infections remain a global challenge. Epitope-based vaccine development is an emerging strategy to prevent bacterial invasion. This study aimed to identify the ability of the 49.8 kDa pili subunit adhesin protein epitope of Shigella flexneri to induce an intestinal immune response in mice.
Materials and Methods: Thirty adult male Balb/c mice were divided into a control group, cholera toxin B subunit (CTB) group, CTB+QSSTGTNSQSDLDS (pep_1) group, CTB+DTTITKAETKTVTKNQVVDTPVTTDAAK (pep_2) group, and CTB+ ATLGATLNRLDFNVNNK (pep_3). We performed immunization by orally administering 50 μg of antigen and 50 μl of adjuvant once a week over 4 weeks. We assessed the cellular immune response by quantifying T helper 2 (Th2) and Th17 using flow cytometry. In addition, we assessed the humoral immune response by quantifying interleukin (IL-4), IL-17, secretory immunoglobulin A (sIgA), and β-defensin using enzyme-linked immunoassay. Statistical analysis was performed using one-way analysis of variance and Kruskal–Wallis test.
Results: Peptide oral immunization increases the cellular immune response as reflected by the increase of Th2 (p=0.019) and Th17 (p=0.004) cell counts, particularly in the CTB_pep_1 group. Humoral immune response activation was demonstrated by increased IL-4 levels, especially in the CTB+pep_3 group (p=0.000). The IL-17 level was increased significantly in the CTB+pep_1 group (p=0.042). The mucosal immune response was demonstrated by the sIgA levels increase in the CTB+pep_3 group (p=0.042) and the β-defensin protein levels (p=0.000).
Conclusion: All selected peptides activated the cellular and humoral immune responses in the intestine of mice. Further studies are necessary to optimize antigen delivery and evaluate whether the neutralizing properties of these peptides allow them to prevent bacterial infection. Keywords: epitope, immune response, oral, Shigella flexneri, shigellosis.
Keywords: epitope, immune response, oral, Shigella flexneri, shigellosis.
How to cite this article: Anam K, Endharti AT, Poeranto S, Sujuti H, Hidayati DYN, Prawiro SR (2022) Shigella flexneri vaccine development: Oral administration of peptides derived from the 49.8 kDa pili protein subunit activates the intestinal immune response in mice, Veterinary World, 15(2): 281-287.
Received: 27-09-2021 Accepted: 05-01-2022 Published online: 11-02-2022
Corresponding author: Sumarno Reto Prawiro E-mail: retoprawiros@yahoo.com
DOI: 10.14202/vetworld.2022.281-287
Copyright: Anam, et al. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made. The Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication waiver (http:// creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/) applies to the data made available in this article, unless otherwise stated.