Immunization with DnaJ (hsp40) could elicit protection against nasopharyngeal colonization and invasive infection caused by different strains of Streptococcus pneumoniae

• DOI: 10.1016/j.vaccine.2010.12.126
• Publication Date: 2011-01-15T09:17:08Z
• Authors: Yali Cui; Xuemei Zhang; Yi Gong; Siqiang Niu; Nanlin Yin; Run Yao; Wenchun Xu; Dairong Li; Hong Wang; Yujuan He; Ju Cao; Yibing Yin
• Keywords: 0301 basic medicine; Mice, Inbred BALB C; Vaccines, Synthetic; Immunization, Passive; Respiratory Mucosa; HSP40 Heat-Shock Proteins; Pneumococcal Infections; 3. Good health; Pneumococcal Vaccines; Mice; 03 medical and health sciences; Nasopharyngeal Diseases; Streptococcus pneumoniae; Species Specificity; Cell Line, Tumor; Animals; Humans; Female; Administration, Intranasal

Increasing mortality, morbidity and economic costs have been paid to pneumococcal diseases every year. Currently, vaccination is the most promising strategy to reduce the occurrence of pneumococcal infection. In this study, we investigated the protective efficacy of immunization with recombinant DnaJ (hsp40) protein against infections of different serotypes of Streptococcus pneumoniae. We demonstrated that mucosal immunization with DnaJ antigen could induce both systemic and mucosal antibodies for DnaJ and stimulate the release of high levels of IL-10, IFN-γ and IL-17A. Moreover, this mucosal vaccination could reduce nasal or lung colonization of pneumococcus and elicit protection against different serotypes of invasive pneumococcal infections. As well, we found that intraperitoneal immunization with DnaJ could also protect against invasive infections caused by different serotypes of pneumococcus, and passive immunization with antibodies specific for DnaJ confirmed that this protection was antibody-mediated. Our results therefore support the potential of DnaJ as a conserved pneumococcal protein vaccine.