Open AccessSynergic Effect of Genotype Changes in Pertussis Toxin and Pertactin on Adaptation to an Acellular Pertussis Vaccine in the Murine Intranasal Challenge Model
Author(s) -
Eiji Komatsu,
Fuminori Yamaguchi,
Akio Abe,
Alison A. Weiss,
Mineo Watanabe
Publication year - 2010
Publication title -
clinical and vaccine immunology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.649
H-Index - 77
eISSN - 1556-6811
pISSN - 1556-679X
DOI - 10.1128/cvi.00449-09
Subject(s) - pertactin , pertussis toxin , bordetella pertussis , virulence , filamentous haemagglutinin adhesin , pertussis vaccine , biology , whooping cough , genotype , allele , microbiology and biotechnology , virology , immunology , genetics , antigen , vaccination , gene , immunization , g protein , receptor , bacteria
TheBordetella pertussis pertussis toxin and pertactin (Prn) are protective antigens and are contained in acellular pertussis vaccines. Polymorphisms in the A subunit of pertussis toxin (PtxA) and pertactin have been proposed to mediate vaccine resistance and contribute to pertussis reemergence. To test this hypothesis, previous studies compared clinical isolates expressing different alleles for the proteins. However, other virulence factors or virulence factor expression levels also may vary, confounding the analysis. To overcome these limitations, we constructed isogenic mutants ofB. pertussis Tohama expressing the allelesptxA1 orptxA2 andprn1 orprn2 and compared the efficacies of an acellular pertussis vaccine against the mutants in a mouse model. While the vaccine was effective against all of theB. pertussis strains regardless of the allele expression pattern, the strain expressingptxA1 andprn2 displayed a survival advantage over the other strains. These results suggest that an allele shift to theptxA1 prn2 genotype may play a role in the emergence of pertussis in vaccinated populations.