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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Microbiol.
Sec. Infectious Agents and Disease
Volume 15 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fmicb.2024.1395837

A Novel Bacterium-Like Particles Platform Displaying Antigens by New Anchoring Proteins Induces Efficacious Immune Responses

Provisionally accepted
Lingdi Niu Lingdi Niu 1,2Mingchun Gao Mingchun Gao 1Hongkun Ren Hongkun Ren 1Xinqi De Xinqi De 1Zhigang Jiang Zhigang Jiang 2Xinyao Zhou Xinyao Zhou 1Runhang Liu Runhang Liu 2Hai Li Hai Li 1Haoyuan Duan Haoyuan Duan 1Chuankun Zhang Chuankun Zhang 1Fang Wang Fang Wang 2*Junwei Ge Junwei Ge 1*
  • 1 Northeast Agricultural University, Harbin, Heilongjiang Province, China
  • 2 Harbin Veterinary Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Harbin, Heilongjiang Province, China

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Bacterium-like particles (BLP) are the peptidoglycan skeleton particles of lactic acid bacteria, which have high safety, mucosal delivery efficiency, and adjuvant effect. It has been widely used in recent years in the development of vaccines. Existing anchoring proteins for BLP surfaces are few in number, so screening and characterization of new anchoring proteins are necessary. In this research, we created the OACD (C-terminal domain of Escherichia coli outer membrane protein A) to serve as an anchoring protein on the surface of BLP produced by the immunomodulatory bacteria Levilactobacillus brevis 23017. We used red fluorescent protein (RFP) to demonstrate the novel surface display system's effectiveness, stability, and ability to be adapted to a wide range of lactic acid bacteria. Furthermore, this study employed this surface display method to develop a novel vaccine (called COB17) by using the multi-epitope antigen of Clostridium perfringens as the model antigen. The vaccine can induce more than 50% protection rate against C. perfringens type A challenge in mice immunized with a single dose and has been tested through three routes. The vaccine yields protection rates of 75% for subcutaneous, 50% for intranasal, and 75% for oral immunization. Additionally, it elicits a strong mucosal immune response, markedly increasing levels of specific IgG, high-affinity IgG, specific IgA, and SIgA antibodies. Additionally, we used protein anchors (PA) and OACD simultaneous to show several antigens on the BLP surface. The discovery of novel BLP anchoring proteins may expand the possibilities for creating mucosal immunity subunit vaccines. Additionally, it may work in concert with PA to provide concepts for the creation of multivalent or multiple vaccines that may be used in clinical practice to treat complex illnesses.

    Keywords: Bacterium-Like Particles, Anchoring protein, surface display platform, Multi-epitope antigen, Immunogenicity

    Received: 04 Mar 2024; Accepted: 01 May 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Niu, Gao, Ren, De, Jiang, Zhou, Liu, Li, Duan, Zhang, Wang and Ge. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence:
    Fang Wang, Harbin Veterinary Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Harbin, 150069, Heilongjiang Province, China
    Junwei Ge, Northeast Agricultural University, Harbin, 150030, Heilongjiang Province, China

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.