• Vaccine Name: TgPF-OML
• Target Pathogen: Toxoplasma gondii
• Target Disease: Toxoplasmosis
• Type: Subunit vaccine
• Status: Research
• Host Species for Licensed Use: Human
• Host Species as Laboratory Animal Model: mouse
• Antigen: TgPF (Tanaka et al., 2014)
• TgPF gene engineering:
  • Type: Recombinant protein preparation
  • Description: TgPF gene was amplified by PCR using a forward primer introducing EcoRI site and a reverse primer introducing XhoI site. The amplified TgPF was digested and purified and was inserted into the pGEX-4T1 vector. Recombinant TgPF was expressed as a glutathione-S-transferase (GST) fusion protein in the E. coli DH5α strain. Endotoxins were removed from the purified protein fraction. TgPF was encapsulated in OMLs. (Tanaka et al., 2014)
  • Detailed Gene Information: Click Here.
• Immunization Route: subcutaneous injection
• Description: T. gondii subunit vaccine of recombinant TgPF encapsulated in OMLs. (Tanaka et al., 2014)

Mouse Response

• Host Strain: C57BL/6 mice (Tanaka et al., 2014)
• Host age: seven-week-old (Tanaka et al., 2014)
• Host gender: female (Tanaka et al., 2014)
• Vaccination Protocol: Mice were inoculated subcutaneously with 40 pmol of TgPF encapsulated in OMLs (TgPF-OML), OMLs, 40 pmol of TgPF in PBS (TgPF), or PBS alone (each 100 μl). Booster immunizations were administered 14 and 28 days after the first immunization. (Tanaka et al., 2014)
• Immune Response: Significantly higher levels of total IgG and IgG2c antibodies, but not IgG1 antibodies, were detected in the sera of mice immunized with TgPF-OML. (Tanaka et al., 2014)
• Challenge Protocol: Fourteen days after the third immunization, the mice were challenged with the 1 × 10^3 tachyzoites of PLK strain. DNA was isolated from the brain samples 30 days after infection, and parasite numbers were analyzed with PCR. (Tanaka et al., 2014)
• Efficacy: The survival rate of the mice immunized with TgPF-OML (66.7%) was significantly higher than that of mice treated with PBS (25.0%), OML (25.0%), or TgPF (16.7%). The parasite burden in the brains of the surviving mice in the TgPF-OML-immunized group (386 ± 336 parasites/50 ng of DNA) was significantly lower than that in the group injected with TgPF (2707 ± 929 parasites/50 ng of DNA) or PBS (2521 ± 1540 parasites/50 ng of DNA). (Tanaka et al., 2014)