Antonino S. Cavallaro

Host-delivered RNAi: an effective strategy to silence genes in plant parasitic nematodes

Root-knot nematodes (Meloidogyne spp.) are obligate, sedentary endoparasites that infect many plant species causing large economic losses worldwide. Available nematicides are being banned due to their toxicity or ozone-depleting properties and alternative control strategies are urgently required. We have produced transgenic tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum) plants expressing different dsRNA hairpin structures targeting a root-knot nematode (Meloidogyne javanica) putative transcription factor, MjTis11. We provide evidence that MjTis11 was consistently silenced in nematodes feeding on the roots of transgenic plants. The observed silencing was specific for MjTis11, with other sequence-unrelated genes being unaffected in the nematodes. Those transgenic plants able to induce silencing of MjTis11, also showed the presence of small interfering RNAs. Even though down-regulation of MjTis11 did not result in a lethal phenotype, this study demonstrates the feasibility of silencing root-knot nematode genes by expressing dsRNA in the host plant. Host-delivered RNA interference-triggered (HD-RNAi) silencing of parasite genes provides a novel disease resistance strategy with wide biotechnological applications. The potential of HD-RNAi is not restricted to parasitic nematodes but could be adapted to control other plant-feeding pests.

Mesoporous silica nanoparticles as antigen carriers and adjuvants for vaccine delivery

Vaccines have been at the forefront of improving human health for over two centuries. The challenges faced in developing effective vaccines flow from complexities associated with the immune system and requirement of an efficient and safe adjuvant to induce a strong adaptive immune response. Development of an efficient vaccine formulation requires careful selection of a potent antigen, efficient adjuvant and route of delivery. Adjuvants are immunological agents that activate the antigen presenting cells (APCs) and elicit a strong immune response. In the past decade, the use of mesoporous silica nanoparticles (MSNs) has gained significant attention as potential delivery vehicles for various biomolecules. In this review, we aim to highlight the potential of MSNs as vaccine delivery vehicles and their ability to act as adjuvants. We have provided an overview on the latest progress on synthesis, adsorption and release kinetics and biocompatibility of MSNs as next generation antigen carriers and adjuvants. A comprehensive summary on the ability of MSNs to deliver antigens and elicit both humoral and cellular immune responses is provided. Finally, we give insight on fundamental challenges and some future prospects of these nanoparticles as adjuvants.

Mesoporous silica nanoparticles act as a self-adjuvant for ovalbumin model antigen in mice

Immunization to the model protein antigen ovalbumin (OVA) is investigated using MCM-41 mesoporous silica nanoparticles as a novel vaccine delivery vehicle and adjuvant system in mice. The effects of amino surface functionalization and adsorption time on OVA adsorption to nanoparticles are assessed. Amino-functionalized MCM-41 (AM-41) shows an effect on the amount of OVA binding, with 2.5-fold increase in binding capacity (72 mg OVA/g AM-41) compared to nonfunctionalized MCM-41 (29 mg OVA/g MCM-41). Immunization studies in mice with a 10 μg dose of OVA adsorbed to AM-41 elicits both antibody and cell-mediated immune responses following three subcutaneous injections. Immunizations at a lower 2 μg dose of OVA adsorbed to AM-41 particles results in an antibody response but not cell-mediated immunity. The level of antibody responses following immunization with nanoformulations containing either 2 μg or 10 μg of OVA are only slightly lower than that in mice which receive 50 μg OVA adjuvanted with QuilA, a crude mixture of saponins extracted from the bark of the Quillaja saponaria Molina tree. This is a significant result, since it demonstrates that AM-41 nanoparticles are self-adjuvanting and elicit immune responses at reduced antigen doses in vivo compared to a conventional delivery system. Importantly, there are no local or systemic negative effects in animals injected with AM-41. Histopathological studies of a range of tissue organs show no changes in histopathology of the animals receiving nanoparticles over a six week period. These results establish the biocompatible MCM-41 silica nanoparticles as a new method for vaccine delivery which incorporates a self-adjuvant effect.

Cloning and characterisation of ripening-induced ethylene biosynthetic genes from non-climacteric pineapple (Ananas comosus) fruits

To gain a better understanding of non-climacteric fruit ripening, pineapple was used as a model system to clone and characterise two ripening-inducible cDNAs coding for two enzymes of the ethylene biosynthetic pathway, 1-aminocyclopropane-1-carboxylate (ACC) synthase (acacc-1) and 1-aminocyclo- propane-1-carboxylate oxidase (acaco-1) respectively. Due to the extreme acidity and high polyphenolic content of pineapple fruits, a method was optimised for the extraction of high quality RNA from fruit tissue. acacc-1 is a 1080 bp ACC synthase cDNA fragment encoding 360 amino acids including 10 of the 12 amino acid residues conserved in all aminotransferases. Comparison of the deduced amino acid sequence with previously reported ACC synthases shows between 52 and 67% similarity at the protein level. Southern analysis suggests the presence of only one copy of acacc-1 in the pineapple genome. Although some acacc-1 expression is detected in green fruits, there is a 16-fold increase in the level of acacc-1 in ripe fruit tissue. acaco-1 is a partial length cDNA clone of 611 bp which codes for 203 amino acids representing approximately 66% of the ACC oxidase open reading frame. Southern analysis suggests the presence of one or two copies of the gene in the pineapple genome. Northern analysis shows the expression of acaco-1 to be highly induced in wounded leaf tissue and to a lesser extent in ripening fruit tissue. The accumulation of ACC-synthase and ACC oxidase mRNAs during pineapple fruit ripening raises new questions about the putative role of ethylene during non-climacteric fruit ripening.

Endotoxin-free purification for the isolation of Bovine Viral Diarrhoea Virus E2 protein from insoluble inclusion body aggregates

BackgroundProtein expression in Escherichia coli may result in the recombinant protein being expressed as insoluble inclusion bodies. In addition, proteins purified from E. coli contain endotoxins which need to be removed for in vivo applications. The structural protein, E2, from Bovine Viral Diarrhoea Virus (BVDV) is a major immunogenic determinant, and is an ideal candidate as a subunit vaccine. The E2 protein contains 17 cysteine residues creating difficulties in E. coli expression. In this report we outline a procedure for successfully producing soluble and endotoxin-free BVDV E2 protein from inclusion bodies (IB).ResultsThe expression of a truncated form of BVDV-E2 protein (E2-T1) in E. coli resulted in predominantly aggregated insoluble IB. Solubilisation of E2-T1 with high purity and stability from IB aggregates was achieved using a strong reducing buffer containing 100 mM Dithiothreitol. Refolding by dialysis into 50 mM Tris (pH 7.0) containing 0.2% Igepal CA630 resulted in a soluble but aggregated protein solution. The novel application of a two-phase extraction of inclusion body preparations with Triton X-114 reduced endotoxin in solubilised E2-T1 to levels suitable for in vivo use without affecting protein yields. Dynamic light scattering analyses showed 37.5% of the protein was monomeric, the remaining comprised of soluble aggregates. Mice immunised with E2-T1 developed a high titre antibody response by ELISA. Western hybridisation analysis showed E2-T1 was recognised by sera from immunised mice and also by several BVDV-E2 polyclonal and monoclonal antibodies.ConclusionWe have developed a procedure using E. coli to produce soluble E2-T1 protein from IB, and due to their insoluble nature we utilised a novel approach using Triton X-114 to efficiently remove endotoxin. The resultant protein is immunogenic and detectable by BVDV-E2 specific antibodies indicating its usefulness for diagnostic applications and as a subunit vaccine. The optimised E. coli expression system for E2-T1 combined with methodologies for solubilisation, refolding and integrated endotoxin removal presented in this study should prove useful for other vaccine applications.

Silica vesicles as nanocarriers and adjuvants for generating both antibody and T-cell mediated immune resposes to Bovine Viral Diarrhoea Virus E2 protein

Bovine Viral Diarrhoea Virus (BVDV) is widely distributed in cattle industries and causes significant economic losses worldwide annually. A limiting factor in the development of subunit vaccines for BVDV is the need to elicit both antibody and T-cell-mediated immunity as well as addressing the toxicity of adjuvants. In this study, we have prepared novel silica vesicles (SV) as the new generation antigen carriers and adjuvants. With small particle size of 50 nm, thin wall (~6 nm), large cavity (~40 nm) and large entrance size (5.9 nm for SV-100 and 16 nm for SV-140), the SV showed high loading capacity (∼ 250 μg/mg) and controlled release of codon-optimised E2 (oE2) protein, a major immunogenic determinant of BVDV. The in vivo functionality of the system was validated in mice immunisation trials comparing oE2 plus Quil A (50 μg of oE2 plus 10 μg of Quil A, a conventional adjuvant) to the oE2/SV-140 (50 μg of oE2 adsorbed to 250 μg of SV-140) or oE2/SV-140 together with 10 μg of Quil A. Compared to the oE2 plus Quil A, which generated BVDV specific antibody responses at a titre of 10(4), the oE2/SV-140 group induced a 10 times higher antibody response. In addition, the cell-mediated response, which is essential to recognise and eliminate the invading pathogens, was also found to be higher [1954-2628 spot forming units (SFU)/million cells] in mice immunised with oE2/SV-140 in comparison to oE2 plus Quil A (512-1369 SFU/million cells). Our study has demonstrated that SV can be used as the next-generation nanocarriers and adjuvants for enhanced veterinary vaccine delivery.

Silica Vesicle Nanovaccine Formulations Stimulate Long-Term Immune Responses to the Bovine Viral Diarrhoea Virus E2 Protein

Bovine Viral Diarrhoea Virus (BVDV) is one of the most serious pathogen, which causes tremendous economic loss to the cattle industry worldwide, meriting the development of improved subunit vaccines. Structural glycoprotein E2 is reported to be a major immunogenic determinant of BVDV virion. We have developed a novel hollow silica vesicles (SV) based platform to administer BVDV-1 Escherichia coli-expressed optimised E2 (oE2) antigen as a nanovaccine formulation. The SV-140 vesicles (diameter 50 nm, wall thickness 6 nm, perforated by pores of entrance size 16 nm and total pore volume of 0.934 cm3g-1) have proven to be ideal candidates to load oE2 antigen and generate immune response. The current study for the first time demonstrates the ability of freeze-dried (FD) as well as non-FD oE2/SV140 nanovaccine formulation to induce long-term balanced antibody and cell mediated memory responses for at least 6 months with a shortened dosing regimen of two doses in small animal model. The in vivo ability of oE2 (100 μg)/SV-140 (500 μg) and FD oE2 (100 μg)/SV-140 (500 μg) to induce long-term immunity was compared to immunisation with oE2 (100 μg) together with the conventional adjuvant Quil-A from the Quillaja saponira (10 μg) in mice. The oE2/SV-140 as well as the FD oE2/SV-140 nanovaccine generated oE2-specific antibody and cell mediated responses for up to six months post the final second immunisation. Significantly, the cell-mediated responses were consistently high in mice immunised with oE2/SV-140 (1,500 SFU/million cells) at the six-month time point. Histopathology studies showed no morphological changes at the site of injection or in the different organs harvested from the mice immunised with 500 μg SV-140 nanovaccine compared to the unimmunised control. The platform has the potential for developing single dose vaccines without the requirement of cold chain storage for veterinary and human applications.

Freeze-drying of ovalbumin loaded mesoporous silica nanoparticle vaccine formulation increases antigen stability under ambient conditions

Amino functionalised mesoporous silica nanoparticles (AM-41) have been identified as a promising vaccine delivery material. The capacity of AM-41 to stabilise vaccine components at ambient temperature (23-27°C) was determined by adsorbing the model antigen ovalbumin (OVA) to AM-41 particles (OVA-41). The OVA-41 was successfully freeze-dried using the excipients 5% trehalose and 1% PEG8000. The immunological activity of OVA and the nanoparticle structure were maintained following two months storage at ambient temperature. The results of immunisation studies in mice with reconstituted OVA-41 demonstrated the induction of humoral and cell-meditated immune responses. The capacity of AM-41 particles to facilitate ambient storage of vaccine components without the loss of immunological potency will underpin the further development of this promising vaccine delivery platform.

Immunogenicity of Outer Membrane Proteins VirB9-1 and VirB9-2, a Novel Nanovaccine against Anaplasma marginale.

Anaplasma marginale is the most prevalent tick-borne livestock pathogen and poses a significant threat to cattle industry. In contrast to currently available live blood-derived vaccines against A. marginale, alternative safer and better-defined subunit vaccines will be of great significance. Two proteins (VirB9-1 and VirB9-2) from the Type IV secretion system of A. marginale have been shown to induce humoral and cellular immunity. In this study, Escherichia coli were used to express VirB9-1 and VirB9-2 proteins. Silica vesicles having a thin wall of 6 nm and pore size of 5.8 nm were used as the carrier and adjuvant to deliver these two antigens both as individual or mixed nano-formulations. High loading capacity was achieved for both proteins, and the mouse immunisation trial with individual as well as mixed nano-formulations showed high levels of antibody titres over 107 and strong T-cell responses. The mixed nano-formulation also stimulated high-level recall responses in bovine T-cell proliferation assays. These results open a promising path towards the development of efficient A. marginale vaccines and provide better understanding on the role of silica vesicles to deliver multivalent vaccines as mixed nano-formulations able to activate both B-cell and T-cell immunity, for improved animal health.

Correction: Silica Vesicle Nanovaccine Formulations Stimulate Long-Term Immune Responses to the Bovine Viral Diarrhoea Virus E2 Protein (vol 10, e0143507, 2015)

S3 Fig. Histopathology studies of tissue organs from a mouse injected with nanovaccine immunisations; A) Three weeks post the final immunisation, organs fixed in formalin were harvested from two mice for each treatment group and embedded in paraffin, sections were stained with hematoxylin and eosin stain. i) Heart, ii) Injection sites, iii) Kidney, iv) Liver. B) Six months post the final immunisation, organs fixed in formalin were harvested from two mice for each treatment group and embedded in paraffin, sections were stained with hematoxylin and eosin stain. i) Heart, ii) Injection sites, iii) Kidney, iv) Liver. (PDF)