Fusion with CTB enhances the immunogenicity and protective efficacy of MIC2 subunit vaccine against Eimeria tenella

作者：Wei Hu, Sheng Chen, Chen Liu, Huoqing Huang, Xiaoyun Su, Yingguo Bai, Lin Liang, Jiabo Ding, Xinming Tang, Huiying Luo, Bin Yao, Yuan Wang, Honglian Zhang · 发表于：Poultry Science · 年份：2025 · DOI：10.1016/j.psj.2025.105296 · 被引用次数：5 · 研究领域：Coccidia and coccidiosis research、Veterinary medicine and infectious diseases、Parasitic Infections and Diagnostics

Coccidiosis is a parasitic disease caused by Eimeria species in chickens, leading to substantial threats to the poultry industry worldwide. Vaccination has emerged as a pivotal preventive strategy, with subunit vaccines gaining significant attention due to their safety. Microneme protein 2 (MIC2) of Eimeria tenella (E. tenella) is a promising candidate antigen for coccidiosis vaccination. However, its immune protection efficiency still needs to be further improved. Here, we report that MIC2, cholera toxin B subunit (CTB) and their fusion protein CTB-MIC2 are successfully recombinant expressed and produced in Pichia pastoris (P. pastoris). Notably, CTB and CTB-MIC2 exhibit high affinity for GM1 ganglioside, whereas MIC2 does not. Furthermore, upon administration to mice, the fusion protein CTB-MIC2 triggered a more robust cellular and humoral immune response than MIC2 alone, as evidenced by inducing significantly higher levels of cytokines IFN-γ and IL-4, along with an elevated production of antigen-specific IgG antibodies. More importantly, CTB-MIC2 provided higher immune protection against E. tenella infections in chickens than MIC2. Taken together, these findings reveal that CTB fusion enhances the immunogenicity of MIC2, highlighting a promising strategy for developing effective anti-coccidial subunit vaccines.