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Chitosan Nanoparticles Loaded with Truncated ORF2 Protein as an Oral Vaccine Candidate against Hepatitis E
Author(s) -
Wei Wenjuan,
Behloul Nouredine,
Wang Weiqi,
Baha Sarra,
Liu Zhenzhen,
Shi Ruihua,
Meng Jihong
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
macromolecular bioscience
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.924
H-Index - 105
eISSN - 1616-5195
pISSN - 1616-5187
DOI - 10.1002/mabi.202000375
Subject(s) - immunogenicity , chitosan , immune system , chemistry , in vitro , capsid , cytotoxicity , antigen , spleen , microbiology and biotechnology , immunology , biology , biochemistry , gene
In a continuous effort to develop effective vaccines against hepatitis E (HE), oral vaccine nanoparticles using the truncated capsid protein p146 (aa460–605) are formulated and characterized. To improve the immunogenicity of p146, chitosan nanoparticles (CSNPs) are used as a mucosal delivery system. Next, the physical‐chemical properties, cytotoxic effects in vitro, and immunogenicity in mice of the produced NPs are analyzed. The results show that the produced CS/p146 NPs are stable and well dispersive and display a near‐spherical shape with a mean size of 200–300 nm. The findings also demonstrate high encapsulation efficiency (65–73.9%) and loading capacity (27.7–67.5%) of the formulated nanoparticles. Further, the CS/p146 NPs exhibit low cytotoxicity and an obvious sustained‐release effect in vitro. Immunogenicity experiments in mice indicate that CS/p146 NPs can induce antigen‐specific systemic and mucosal immune responses higher than the purified p146 do. Besides, the expression levels and mRNA transcription of Interleukin (IL)‐4 in spleen cells of CS/p146 NPs‐immunized mice are higher than those of p146, indicating that a Th2‐mediated cellular immune response is activated by the CS/p146 NPs. Overall, the synthesized CS/p146 NPs display promising properties as a potential HE oral vaccine candidate.