乙型脑炎病毒及其疫苗最新研究进展

流行性乙型脑炎(Japanese encephalitis,JE)简称乙脑,是由乙脑病毒感染,流行在亚洲和太平洋地区重要的病毒脑炎,近年乙脑流行地区在不断扩大。目前尚无特效的治疗流行性乙型脑炎的方法,控制蚊虫传播和免疫接种是当前的主要防御手段。随着对乙脑病毒研究的深入,利用基因工程技术研制新型候选疫苗已成为预防乙脑新的发展方向。简要综述了乙型脑炎病毒的基因组结构及其蛋白功能,以及国内外乙型脑炎疫苗的最新研究进展。     

Sulfonate-isosteric replacement examined within heroin-hapten vaccine design

Heroin overdose and addiction remain significant health and economic burdens in the world today costing billions of dollars annually. Moreover, only limited pharmacotherapeutic options are available for treatment of heroin addiction. In our efforts to combat the public health threat posed by heroin addiction, we have developed vaccines against heroin. To expand upon our existing heroin-vaccine arsenal, we synthesized new aryl and alkyl sulfonate ester haptens; namely aryl-mono-sulfonate (H_MsAc) and Aryl/alkyl-di-sulfonate (H_(Ds)2) as carboxyl-isosteres of heroin then compared them to our model heroin-hapten (H_Ac) through vaccination studies. Heroin haptens were conjugated to the carrier protein CRM₁₉₇ and the resulting CRM-immunoconjugates were used to vaccinate Swiss Webster mice following an established immunization protocol. Binding studies revealed that the highest affinity anti-heroin antibodies were generated by the H_MsAc vaccine followed by the H_Ac and H_(Ds)2 vaccines, respectively (H_MsAc > H_Ac≫H_Ds2). However, neither the H_MsAc nor H_(Ds)2 vaccines were able to generate high affinity antibodies to the psychoactive metabolite 6-acetyl morphine (6-AM), in comparison to the H_Ac vaccine. Blood brain bio-distribution studies supported these binding results with vaccine efficiency following the trend H_Ac > H_MsAc ≫ H_(Ds)2 The work described herein provides insight into the use of hapten-isosteric replacement in vaccine drug design.     

Assembly and characterization of lipid-lipid binding protein particles

Lipid-protein complexes, lipoplexes, are currently of great interest because of their immunogenic, gene free, and low cost properties. For their applications as potential vaccines, it is critical to display a target protein on the surface of lipoplex particles to allow external interactions to take place. However, how to effectively assemble lipoplexes with target proteins externally accessible is a constant challenge. In this study, human liver fatty acid binding protein 1 (hl-FABP1) was used as a model protein in lipoplex assembly with a non-lipid binding protein, bovine serum albumin (BSA), serving as a comparison. The protein-lipid particles were assembled by four different processes and characterized by dynamic light scattering (DLS), transmission electron microscope (TEM), flow cytometry (FCM), and a modified ELISA. Results indicate that by incubating the target protein with pre-formed liposomes at a temperature higher than all transition temperatures (T_m) of the lipids used through an extended period of time, 1.48 × 10⁻⁶ nmol per lipoplex of incorporated proteins can be detected by ELISA and are externally accessible. Additional experiments showed that most of those externally accessible proteins are likely embedded in the lipid bilayer structure and are not subject to dissociation from the lipoplex particles at elevated salt concentrations.     

Sequence-independent control of peptide conformation in liposomal vaccines for targeting protein misfolding diseases

Synthetic peptide immunogens that mimic the conformation of a target epitope of pathological relevance offer the possibility to precisely control the immune response specificity. Here, we performed conformational analyses using a panel of peptides in order to investigate the key parameters controlling their conformation upon integration into liposomal bilayers. These revealed that the peptide lipidation pattern, the lipid anchor chain length, and the liposome surface charge all significantly alter peptide conformation. Peptide aggregation could also be modulated post-liposome assembly by the addition of distinct small molecule β-sheet breakers. Immunization of both mice and monkeys with a model liposomal vaccine containing β-sheet aggregated lipopeptide (Palm1-15) induced polyclonal IgG antibodies that specifically recognized β-sheet multimers over monomer or non-pathological native protein. The rational design of liposome-bound peptide immunogens with defined conformation opens up the possibility to generate vaccines against a range of protein misfolding diseases, such as Alzheimer disease.     

邻苯二甲醛(OPA)法检测铝吸附疫苗中抗原含量

目的:建立快速测定铝胶吸附的疫苗中抗原含量的OPA荧光检测法。 方法:利用邻苯二甲醛(OPA)在2-巯基乙醇存在下与氨基酸的N端或L-谷氨酸侧链反应,在460nm处生成荧光衍生物的原理,建立了无需进行抗原蛋白提取的检测方法,并对该方法的特异性、线性、精密度、回收率、重复性进行考察。同时,配合钠十二烷基的硫酸盐-聚丙烯酰胺凝胶电泳法(SDS-PAGE),研究在配制过程中抗原蛋白与佐剂是否分离。结果: OPA荧光法,在抗原蛋白含量为0.02~0.16mg/ml时,线性良好,准确度达90%~115%,批内和批间相对标准偏差≤15%。电泳结果显示,CpG的加入可能会导致少量抗原蛋白从铝胶中解离。结论:该方法快速、准确、灵敏度较高,重复性好,可以应用于含铝胶疫苗制剂的实验室甚至生产质控过程。     

Increased Humoral Immune Responses of Pigs to Foot‐and‐Mouth Disease Vaccine Supplemented with Ginseng Stem and Leaf Saponins

Vaccination is a conventional approach against foot‐and‐mouth disease (FMD) in pigs. However, failure to elicit an immune response to vaccine has been reported. Our previous investigation showed that ginseng stem and leaf saponins (GSLS) and mineral oil acted synergistically to promote Th1/Th2 immune responses to FMD vaccine in mice. This study was designed to i) find the optimal doses of GSLS in oil‐emulsified FMD vaccines to induce immune responses in mice and pigs and ii) to evaluate the effect of oil‐emulsified FMD vaccine supplemented with GSLS on the immune responses in pigs, by measuring the serum indirect hemagglutination (IHA) titer and IgG and IgG subclass levels. The GSLS‐enhanced immune response to FMD oil‐emulsion vaccine depended on the dose of GSLS added to the vaccine. Addition of GSLS at a dose of 40 μg to 2 ml of FMD oil‐emulsified vaccine significantly enhanced the humoral immune responses in pigs, when compared to the vaccine without GSLS (P<0.05). The increased antibodies included IgG1 and IgG2. Hence, GSLS and oil adjuvant synergistically promoted the immune responses to vaccination against FMD in pigs, and GSLS could be a promising vaccine additive to improve oil‐emulsified veterinary vaccines.     

Glycopeptide-functionalized gold nanoparticles for antibody induction against the tumor associated mucin-1 glycoprotein

We report the preparation of gold nanoparticle (AuNP)-based vaccine candidates against the tumor-associated form of the mucin-1 (MUC1) glycoprotein. Chimeric peptides, consisting of a glycopeptide sequence derived from MUC1 and the T-cell epitope P30 sequence were immobilized on PEGylated AuNPs and the ability to induce selective antibodies in vivo was investigated. After immunization, mice showed significant MHC-II mediated immune responses and their antisera recognized human MCF-7 breast cancer cells. Nanoparticles designed according to this report may become key players in the development of anticancer vaccines.     

Differential evidence of natural selection on two leading sporozoite stage malaria vaccine candidate antigens

Experimental malaria vaccines based on two sporozoite stage candidate antigens of Plasmodium falciparum, the circumsporozoite protein (CSP) and thrombospondin-related adhesive protein (TRAP), have undergone clinical trials of efficacy. The relevance of naturally existing polymorphism in these molecules remains unknown. Sequence polymorphism in the genes encoding these antigens was studied in a Gambian population (sample of 48 trap and 44 csp gene sequences) to test for signatures of selection that would result from naturally acquired immunity. Allele frequency distributions were analyzed and compared with data from another population (in Thailand). Patterns of non-synonymous and synonymous polymorphism in P. falciparum and in Plasmodium vivax were compared with divergence from related species. Results indicate that polymorphism in TRAP is under strong selection for amino acid sequence diversity and that allele frequencies are under balancing selection within the Gambian P. falciparum population. There was no such evidence for CSP, calling into question the idea that most polymorphisms in this gene are under immune selection. There was a weak trend for regions known to encode T cell epitopes to have slightly higher indices suggesting balancing selection. Overall, the results predict more allele-specific immunity to TRAP than to CSP and should be considered in design and efficacy testing of vaccine candidates based on these antigens.