Microb Pathog . Bursal peptide BP-IV as a novel immunoadjuvant enhances the protective efficacy of an epitope peptide vaccine containing T and B cell epitopes of the H9N2 avian influenza virus

[tetano]

Microb Pathog


. 2021 Jul 16;105095.
doi: 10.1016/j.micpath.2021.105095. Online ahead of print.
Bursal peptide BP-IV as a novel immunoadjuvant enhances the protective efficacy of an epitope peptide vaccine containing T and B cell epitopes of the H9N2 avian influenza virus


Yongqing Liu ¹ , Tengfei Shen ¹ , Jiangfei Zhou ¹ , Liangliang Chen ¹ , Shuaibing Shi ¹ , Xiaoli Wang ² , Min Zhang ¹ , Chen Wang ³ , Chengshui Liao ⁴



Affiliations

• PMID: 34280501
• DOI: 10.1016/j.micpath.2021.105095

Abstract

Short peptide antigens covering conserved T or B cell epitopes have been investigated in influenza vaccines. Bursal pentapeptide V (BPP-V) and bursal peptide IV (BP-IV) are small molecular peptides that were isolated and identified from the bursa of Fabricius (BF) and induce a strong immune response at both the humoural and cellular levels. To explore the molecular adjuvant potential of BPP-V and BP-IV with an epitope vaccine, an epitope peptide (HA_284-298, GNCVVQCQTERGGLN) rich in T and B cell epitopes for the H9N2 avian influenza virus (AIV) haemagglutinin (HA) protein was selected. BPP-V and BP-IV were coupled with the epitope peptide sequence to form BPP-V and BP-IV-epitope vaccines, respectively. The immunoefficacy of BPP-V and BP-IV-epitope peptide vaccines was evaluated. The results showed that the epitope peptide had weak immunogenicity. The BPP-V-epitope peptide vaccine promoted only the secretion of anti-HA IgG and IgG1 antibodies. The BP-IV-epitope peptide vaccine not only promoted the production of anti-HA IgG and IgG1 antibodies but also significantly induced the production of the IgG2a antibody. The BP-IV-epitope peptide vaccine significantly promoted the production of interleukin (IL-4) and interferon-γ (IFN-γ) (the BPP-V epitope peptide vaccine promoted only the production of IL-4), enhanced the cytotoxic T lymphocyte (CTL) response, and increased the proportion of CD3⁺ T lymphocytes. Moreover, the BP-IV-epitope peptide vaccine promoted a cell-mediated immune response similar to that of the AIV vaccine group. Furthermore, BPP-V and BP-IV-epitope peptide vaccines could also accelerate the clearance of pulmonary virus and reduce pathological damage after the challenge with H9N2 AIV. This study demonstrates the potential of BP-IV as an effective adjuvant for the epitope peptide vaccine for the H9N2 AIV.

Keywords: Adjuvant; BP-IV; BPP-V; Epitope peptide vaccine; H9N2 avian Influenza virus.