Screening of immunogenic proteins and evaluation of vaccine candidates against Mycoplasma synoviae

Abstract

Mycoplasma synoviae (M. synoviae) is a serious avian pathogen that causes significant economic losses to chicken and turkey producers worldwide. The currently available live attenuated and inactivated vaccines provide limited protection. The objective of this study was to identify potential subunit vaccine candidates using immunoproteomics and reverse vaccinology analyses and to evaluate their preliminary protection. Twenty-four candidate antigens were identified, and five of them, namely RS01790 (a putative sugar ABC transporter lipoprotein), BMP (a substrate-binding protein of the BMP family ABC transporter), GrpE (a nucleotide exchange factor), RS00900 (a putative nuclease), and RS00275 (an uncharacterized protein), were selected to evaluate their immunogenicity and preliminary protection. The results showed that all five antigens had good immunogenicity, and they were localized on the M. synoviae cell membrane. The antigens induced specific humoral and cellular immune responses, and the vaccinated chickens exhibited significantly greater body weight gain and lower air sac lesion scores and tracheal mucosal thicknesses. Additionally, the vaccinated chickens had lower M. synoviae loads in throat swabs than non-vaccinated chickens. The protective effect of the RS01790, BMP, GrpE, and RS00900 vaccines was better than that of the RS00275 vaccine. In conclusion, our study demonstrates the potential of subunit vaccines as a new approach to developing M. synoviae vaccines, providing new ideas for controlling the spread of M. synoviae worldwide.

Evaluation of the protective efficacy of six major immunogenic proteins of Mycoplasma Synoviae

“…First of all, these may be explained by the fact that mycoplasmas cytadherence is a complex, multifactorial process involving numerous membrane proteins and cytoskeletal elements ( 11 ). In addition to the antigens used in the present study, other proteins have also been proven to contribute to the adhesion process of MS ( 12 ). Secondly, the limited protective effect on the colonization of MS in the trachea may be attributed to the lack of specific antibodies in the trachea, which is consistent with earlier findings in MG .…”

“…The adhesion of mycoplasma to host cells is a prerequisite for colonization and infection ( 11 ). Recently, subunit vaccines contain proteins that are involved in MS adherence showed effectively protect against MS infection ( 12 , 13 ). In infection caused by Mycoplasma gallisepticum ( MG ), another important avian mycoplasma, vaccines containing adherence proteins imparted protective immunity in chickens ( 14 , 15 ).…”

“…LP78 is a putative lipoprotein that belongs to the P80 family lipoprotein. Lipoprotein has been identified as a good candidate of antigens for MS vaccine ( 12 ). The protective efficacy of DnaK, EF-Tu, enolase, MSPB, LP78, and NADH oxidase antigens against MS infection has not been reported to date.…”

Mycoplasma synoviae elongation factor thermo stable is an adhesion-associated protein that enters cells by endocytosis and stimulates DF-1 cell proliferation.

“…Membrane proteins are key Mycoplasma proteins and are integral to various microbial activities. Recent studies have demonstrated that multiepitope subunit vaccines constructed with immunogenic membrane proteins signi cantly enhance protection against M. synoviae [20,21]. Therefore, the identi cation and screening of M. synoviae immunogenic proteins is bene cial for vaccine development and infection prevention.…”

Evaluation of vaccine candidates against Rhodococcus equi in BALB/c mice infection model: cellular and humoral immune responses

“…Reverse vaccinology has been extensively used for the screening of vaccine candidates for various pathogens, such as serogroup B Neisseria meningitidis ( menB ) [ 25 ], Acinetobacter baumannii [ 26 ], Brucella spp. [ 27 ], Shigella dysenteriae [ 28 ], and Mycoplasma synoviae [ 29 ]. With this approach, menB vaccines have been successfully developed [ 25 ].…”