牛源犬新孢子虫AMA1基因的原核表达及免疫原性分析

为了解牛源犬新孢子虫AMA1基因蛋白特性及免疫原性,本试验以重组质粒PVAX1-NcAMA1为模板,PCR扩增NcAMA1基因,亚克隆至pGEX-4T-1表达载体;表达、纯化NcAMA1重组蛋白,并应用弗氏佐剂制备NcAMA1重组蛋白亚单位疫苗,接种BALB/c小鼠,间接ELISA方法检测小鼠血清抗体水平,用ELISA方法检测IFN-γ、IL-4表达水平。结果显示,表达的NcAMA1重组蛋白相对分子质量约为94 000(GST约为26 000、NcAMA1约为68 000),NcAMA1重组蛋白亚单位疫苗接种BALB/c小鼠后,能够诱导BALB/c小鼠产生较高的体液免疫水平和细胞免疫水平。本研究为利用该重组蛋白建立免疫学诊断方法及制备抗犬新孢子虫新型亚单位疫苗奠定了基础。     

Neospora caninum associated with epidemic abortions in dairy cattle: The first clinical neosporosis report in Turkey

Neospora caninum, a protozoan parasite, has been considered as one of the most important etiological agents responsible for abortion in dairy cattle throughout the world since it was first identified in dogs in 1988. In this report, characteristics of neosporosis, detected in a dairy cow ranch having epidemic abortions as high as 18.4%, were described. Blood samples were collected from 25 infertile or aborted dairy cattle, 6 calves born in 2006 and 40 heifers that were born in 2005 and raised in the same ranch. Necropsy was conducted in a 20-day-old Simmental calf that exhibited neurological signs including incoordination, head shaking, hyperextension in forelimbs and hindlimbs and tremor. The seroprevalance in aborted or infertile dairy cattle, heifers, and calves was 60%, 40%, and 33.3%, respectively. The mothers of seropositive two calves including clinically affected calf and its dam were N. caninum seropositive. In immunoperoxidase examinations, N. caninum antigen immunopositivity was observed in the degenerative and necrotic neurons in the brain, cerebellum as well as neurons in dorsal root ganglia of the cervical and thoracic regions of the spinal cord. In the heart, myocytes and Purkinje cells exhibited granular and linear patterns of immunoreactivity. Striated myofibers around the eyeball also showed immunolocalization for N. caninum antigen. Ultrastructurally, tachyzoites with typical apical complex, rhoptries and double-layered parasitic membrane were detected in the brain and heart sections. In conclusion, this report described clinical neosporosis for the first time in Turkey with tissue localization of the causative agents. This scientific communication also discusses the possible impact of cattle neosporosis by clinical, serologic and pathologic evidences collected from the survey of calves born in two successive generations in a ranch.     

奶牛新孢子虫病的巢式PCR诊断及ELISA检测

为确定焦作某奶牛场奶牛流产是否与新孢子虫感染有关,对采自该奶牛场流产奶牛的胎牛组织进行新孢子虫Nc5基因巢式PCR检测诊断,并用ELISA方法对该奶牛场不同年龄阶段奶牛血清样品进行新孢子虫抗体检测。结果显示,在4例流产胎牛样本中有3例检出新孢子虫DNA;新孢子虫血清抗体阳性率达44.80%(112/250),其中,经产奶牛阳性率为55.40%(77/139),未经产奶牛或犊牛阳性率为31.53%(35/111);经产奶牛中有流产史的阳性率为73.17%(30/41),其余未发生过流产的阳性率为47.96%(47/98)。综上推断,新孢子虫是导致该奶牛场奶牛流产的主要病原。     

犬新孢子虫巨噬细胞转移抑制因子（McMIF）克隆表达与其免疫调节作用鉴定

对犬新孢子虫巨噬细胞转移抑制因子(NcMIF)生物学特性进行鉴定,将NcMIF在大肠杆菌中以3种不同的形式进行表达,三种蛋白分别为NcMIF (成熟的蛋白质),NcMIFm (脯氨酸突变为甘氨酸)和NcMIFhis (在N端添加多组氨酸标记),对三种蛋白的多聚体状态、互变异构酶、氧化还原酶及是否与MIF受体(CD74)结合等进行分析。实验结果显示这三种重组的NcMIFs (rNcMIF)均不具备互变异构酶和氧化还原酶活性;甘氨酸替代脯氨酸的重组NcMIF减少了二聚体和三聚物的形成;N端额外添加的HIS标签增加了三聚物的形成;rNcMIF无法与重组人MIF竞争与MIF受体(CD74)结合,这表明CD74不是NcMIF受体结合;免疫荧光染色结果证明NcMIF定位于犬新孢子虫速殖子的顶端。免疫电镜结果进一步显示NcMIF存在于微线体、棒状体、致密颗粒及细胞核中。为进一步分析NcMIF在寄生虫免疫逃逸过程中发挥的作用提供参考。     

新孢子虫速殖子灭活苗对沙鼠的免疫保护性试验

为验证2种新孢子虫速殖子灭活苗的免疫保护作用,以沙鼠为试验动物,用2种不同佐剂疫苗对沙鼠进行免疫,21 d后用新孢子虫速殖子(1×106/只)进行皮下攻毒,观察死亡情况.试验结果表明,第Ⅰ种疫苗保护率为85%(17/20),第Ⅱ种疫苗保护率为80%(16/20),并在死亡沙鼠组织DNA均扩增出新孢子虫特异的基因片段.     

抗弓形虫和新孢子虫药物体外筛选方法的研究进展

弓形虫和新孢子虫是2种在形态结构及生物学特征方面非常相似的细胞内寄生性原虫,二者引起的疾病对人和动物健康造成了严重危害。开发和筛选高效、低毒的抗弓形虫和新孢子虫药物一直是抗原虫药物研究领域的重要方向之一。药物筛选包括体外筛选和体内筛选,体外筛选的结果是进行体内筛选的依据和基础。对抗弓形虫和新孢子虫药物的体外筛选方法研究进展进行综述,以期为开发更加高效的抗弓形虫和新孢子虫药物体外筛选技术提供参考。     

弓形虫和新孢子虫交叉反应抗原MIC7A对小鼠的免疫保护效力分析

弓形虫和新孢子虫是两种亲缘关系接近的顶复亚门原虫，二者之间存在一定程度的交叉免疫保护作用，这种作用可能是基于交叉反应抗原产生的。本研究旨在表达并鉴定弓形虫和新孢子虫的交叉反应抗原TgMIC17A，通过将其应用于小鼠的免疫保护试验，评估该抗原对弓形虫和新孢子虫感染产生的交叉免疫保护作用。对TgMIC17A进行基因克隆和原核表达，通过免疫印迹试验鉴定其反应原性和交叉反应性。重组蛋白免疫小鼠后测定血清特异性IgG抗体水平，评价其免疫原性。二免后，分别用1×10³个弓形虫Pru速殖子、1.5×10⁷个新孢子虫Nc1速殖子攻虫，对小鼠的体重变化、存活率进行监测，并在攻虫30 d后检测各组存活小鼠的脑荷虫量，评价TgMIC17A重组蛋白免疫小鼠后对弓形虫和新孢子虫的交叉免疫保护效果。结果显示，rTgMIC17A可以被弓形虫和新孢子虫的阳性血清识别，相较于未免疫组小鼠，免疫组小鼠体内可产生高水平特异性IgG抗体(P＜0.01)，且感染弓形虫或新孢子虫的脑荷虫量均显著降低(P＜0.01)。本研究克隆并表达了TgMIC17A，鉴定其为新孢子虫和弓形虫的交叉反应抗原。该抗原可以刺激小鼠产生较好的体液免疫反应，并对弓形虫和新孢子虫的感染产生一定的交叉免疫保护作用，可以为弓形虫和新孢子虫共感染的防治，以及筛选具有交叉免疫保护力的重组疫苗提供可借鉴的研究资料。