Use of a synthetic foot-and-mouth disease virus peptide conjugated to gold nanoparticles for enhancing immunological response

Lev A Dykman,Pavel V Mezhenny,Alexander S Fomin,Sergey A Staroverov,Sergei Yu Shchyogolev,Alexey A Volkov,Sergey V Kozlov,Vladislav N Laskavy

doi:10.1007/s13404-015-0165-1

Abstract

Foot-and-mouth disease is an acute, highly contagious infection of domestic and wild cloven-hoofed animals, which can be transmitted to humans. In many cases, the existing vaccines are not quite effective. The purpose of this study was to test the possibility of using gold nanoparticles as an antigen carrier and an adjuvant. The immunogenic properties of gold nanoparticles were assessed by conjugating the particles to a synthetic peptide of the VP1 capsid protein of the foot-and-mouth disease virus. The resulting conjugate (with or without the use of complete Freund’s adjuvant), a commercial vaccine, and the native peptide served to immunize guinea pigs. The titer and sensitivity of the raised antibodies were maximal for the combination comprising the nanoparticle–peptide conjugate and complete Freund’s adjuvant. Antibody biosynthesis was accompanied by increased production of proinflammatory cytokines (especially IFN-γ) and by stimulation of the respiratory activity of peritoneal macrophages. The use of gold nanoparticles as a hapten carrier enhanced the immune response even when complete Freund’s adjuvant was not used.

Highlights

Foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) is an acute, highly contagious infection of domestic and wild cloven-hoofed animals, which can be transmitted from animals to humans
The diameter of the synthesized AuNPs was determined by spectrophotometry (Fig. 1), transmission electron microscopy (TEM; Fig. 2), and dynamic light scattering (DLS; Fig. 2)
The data generated by this study characterize the effect of AuNPs on the immune response of the guinea pigs immunized with a synthetic peptide of the VP1 capsid protein of the FMD virus (FMDV), as compared to the responses obtained from the animals immunized with a commercial FMD vaccine and with the native peptide

Summary

Introduction

Foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) is an acute, highly contagious infection of domestic and wild cloven-hoofed animals, which can be transmitted from animals to humans. It is caused by a filterable RNA-containing aphthovirus of the family Picornaviridae. Existing vaccines are in many cases effective against the disease, they have several essential disadvantages: The immune response develops slowly; vaccinated animals can become infected before an immune response is generated; and animals can become virus carriers even after being successfully vaccinated [3, 4]. It is known that during the recent systematic FMD vaccination in Europe, up to half the disease outbreaks recorded annually have been due to Bunderinactivated^ formulations and to their residual infectivity [5]. A search is in progress for the most effective adjuvants [9]

Objectives

Methods

Results

Conclusion