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Infect. Immun. doi:10.1128/IAI.00725-07
Copyright (c) 2007, American Society for Microbiology and/or the Listed Authors/Institutions. All Rights Reserved.

Intranasal immunization with Gal-lectin adjuvated with CpG oligodeoxynucleotides protects against Entamoeba histolytica challenge

Faculty of Medicine, Department of Microbiology and Infectious Diseases, University of Calgary Health Sciences Centre, 3330 Hospital Dr. NW, Calgary, Alberta, T2N 4N1, Canada

^* To whom correspondence should be addressed. Email: kchadee{at}ucalgary.ca.

	Abstract

The development of an effective amebiasis vaccine could improve child health in the developing world, reducing cases of amebic colitis and liver abscess. An ideal vaccine would be comprised of a well-characterized parasite antigen and an adjuvant, which would have high potency while driving the immune response in a Th1 direction. This study describes a mucosal vaccine composed of the Entamoeba histolytica Galactose/N-acetyl-D-galactosamine inhibitable lectin (Gal-lectin) and CpG-ODN. The Gal-lectin is a protein involved in parasite virulence and adherence and is known to activate immune cells, while CpG-ODN are known to be potent inducers of type-1 like immune responses. We demonstrate that the intranasal administration of the vaccine results in strong Gal-lectin specific Th1 responses and humoral responses. Vaccination induced the production of Gal-lectin specific T cells and the production of the pro-inflammatory cytokine IFN-. Vaccinated animals had detectable serum anti-Gal-lectin IgG and stool anti-Gal-lectin IgA capable of blocking parasite adherence to target cells in vitro. One week after immunization, gerbils were challenged intrahepatically with live trophozoites. Vaccinated gerbils had no detectable abscesses after day five, whereas control gerbil developed larger abscesses. These results show that mucosal vaccination with Gal-lectin and CpG-ODN can induce both systemic and humoral immune responses.