Protective immunity induced by Toxoplasma gondii rhoptry protein 16 against toxoplasmosis in mice.

ABSTRACT: Toxoplasma gondii can infect a large variety of domestic and wild animals and human beings, sometimes causing severe pathology. Rhoptries are involved in T. gondii invasion and host cell interaction and have been implicated as important virulence factors. In this study, we constructed a DNA vaccine expressing rhoptry protein 16 (ROP16) of T. gondii and evaluated the immune responses it induced in Kunming mice. The gene sequence encoding ROP16 was inserted into the eukaryotic expression vector pVAX I. We immunized Kunming mice intramuscularly. After immunization, we evaluated the immune response using a lymphoproliferative assay, cytokine and antibody measurements, and the survival times of mice challenged lethally. The results showed that mice immunized with pVAX-ROP16 developed a high lev

SUBMITTER: Yuan ZG 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3019779 | biostudies-literature | 2011 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature