Immunization with HBsAg-Fc fusion protein induces a predominant production of Th1 cytokines and reduces HBsAg level in transgenic mice / 中华医学杂志(英文版)

<p><b>BACKGROUND</b>The Fc receptor associated pathway might improve the immune responses against hepatitis B virus (HBV) as previously described by us. In addition, the Flt3 ligand (FL) has been reported to potentiate antigen presenting cells in vivo and may act as a potential adjuvant to boost antigen-specific immune responses. In this study, the immune efficacies of a set of fusion proteins of HBsAg and Fc and/or FL were evaluated in HBsAg transgenic mice.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>The fusion proteins composed of HBsAg and the Fc domain of murine IgG1 (HBsAg-Fc) and/or the Flt3 ligand, and yeast-derived recombinant HBsAg were used as immunogen to immunize HBsAg transgenic mice, respectively. Serum and liver HBsAg levels, serum anti-HBsAg and cytokine profile, and the activities of alanine aminotransferase (ALT)/AST were investigated after immunization.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>After six injections, the most pronounced decrease in serum and liver HBsAg levels was observed in the HBsAg-Fc immunized group. In addition, serum Th1 cytokines and ALT/AST activities were highest in this group, indicating an effective induction of a favorable cellular immune response. Interestingly, the fusion protein containing HBsAg-Fc and the Flt3 ligand stimulated an alternative Th1-type immune response featured with high level productions of tumor necrosis factor α (TNF-α) and monocyte chemoabstractant protein 1 (MCP-1), causing a more severe cytotoxicity in hepatocytes while showed less effective in reducing serum HBsAg level.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>HBsAg-Fc is effective in eliciting both the humoral and cellular immune responses against HBsAg in HBsAg transgenic mice, which makes it a potential immunogen for the immunotherapy of chronic hepatitis B.</p>

The role of bacterial biofilm in persistent infections and control strategies / 国际口腔科学杂志·英文版

Bacterial biofilms can be viewed as a specific type of persistent bacterial infection. After initial invasion, microbes can attach to living and non-living surfaces, such as prosthetics and indwelling medical devices, and form a biofilm composed of extracellular polysaccharides, proteins, and other components. In hosts, biofilm formation may trigger drug resistance and inflammation, resulting in persistent infections. The clinical aspects of biofilm formation and leading strategies for biofilm inhibitors will be discussed in this mini-review.

Immune response for phase I clinical trial of a hepatitis B immunogenic complex therapeutic vaccine, YIC / 中华肝脏病杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>A hepatitis B immunogenic complex therapeutic vaccine, yeast-derived recombinant HBsAg combined with human anti-HBs immunoglobulin (YIC), was evaluated for safety and immune response in phase I clinical trial.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>The subtypes IgG1, IgG2, IgG3 and IgG4 of serum anti-HBs collected from 20 immunized subjects were analyzed by ELISA. The lymphocyte proliferation assay was carried out in five subjects and was analyzed by 3H-thymidine incorporation. The assays for IFNgamma, IL-2, IL-4, IL-6, IL-10 and TNFalpha were measured using Human Cytometric Bead Array Kit with FACSCalibur.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>The results showed that the subtypes of anti-HBs antibodies induced by 30, 60 and 90 microg YIC-immunized groups among all of the adult volunteers (20/20) were IgG1 and IgG3. The level of IgG1 was higher than that of IgG3 in each volunteer but the strength was different from each other. The rHBsAg-stimulated lymphocyte proliferation induced by three injections of 90 microg of YIC showed that the stimulation index was more than 2.0 in four out of the five individuals (4/5), ranging from 2.70 to 4.75. PHA-stimulated lymphocyte proliferation was not related to rHBsAg-stimulated lymphocyte proliferation. In the 60 microg YIC-immunized group there was no significant difference between the levels of IFNgamma, IL-2, IL-4, IL-6 and IL-10 at day 0 and day 42. At day 71, in comparison to day 0, the level of IFNgamma was higher in all eight subjects studied (P = 0.015) and the level of IL-2 was also increased in seven out of eight subjects (P = 0.002). In contrast, the levels of IL-4, IL-6, IL-10 and TNFalpha showed no significant difference in all the subjects (P-values: 0.298, 0.976, 0.202 and 0.996).</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>Our results indicate that this hepatitis B immunogenic complex therapeutic vaccine (YIC) can induce a potent anti-HBs response.</p>