Immune response induced by recombinant pres2/S-protein and a pres2-S-protein fused with a core 18-27 antigen fragment of hepatitis B virus compared to conventional HBV vaccine

AbstractAlthough comprehensive vaccination is the cornerstone of public health programs to control hepatitis B virus (HBV) infections, 5% of people who receive the existing vaccine do not develop proper immunity against HBV. To overcome this challenge, researchers have tried using various protein fragments encoded by the virus genome to achieve better immunization rates. An important antigenic component of HBsAg called the preS2/S or M protein has also received much attention in this area. The gene sequences of preS2/S and Core18-27 peptide were extracted from the GenBank (NCBI). Final gene synthesis was conducted with pET28. Groups of BALB/c mice were immunized with 10  μg/ml of recombinant proteins and 1 μg/ml CPG7909 adjuvant. Serum levels of IF-γ, TNF-α, IL-2, IL-4, and IL-10 were measured by ELISA assay method on spleen cell cultures on day 45, and IgG1, IgG2a, and total IgG titers obtained from mice serum were quantified on days 14 and 45. Statistical a nalysis did not show any significant difference between the groups regarding IF-γ level. There were, however, significant differences in terms of IL-2 and IL-4 levels between the groups receiving preS2/S-C18-27 with and without adjuvant and the groups receiving both preS2/S and preS2/S-C18-27 (Plus Recomb—Plus Recomb: the group of mice that received both preS2/S and preS2/S-C18-27 simultaneously). The strongest total antibody production was induced by immunization with both recombinant proteins without CPG adjuv...
Source: Virus Genes - Category: Genetics & Stem Cells Source Type: research