摘要

Trichinellosis is a foodborne disease that remains a public health hazard and an economic problem in food safety. Vaccines against the parasite can be an effective way to control this disease; however, commercial vaccines against Trichinella infection are not yet available. Trichinella cathepsin B proteins appear to be promising targets for vaccine development. Here, we reported for the first time the characterization of a novel cDNA that encodes Trichinella spiralis (T. spiralis) cathepsin B-like protease 2 gene (TsCPB2). The recombinant mature TsCPB2 protein was successfully expressed in E. coli system and purified with Niaffinity chromatography. TsCPB2 expression was detected at all the developmental stages of T. spiralis and it was expressed as an excretory secretory protein of T. spiralis muscle larvae. Immunization with TsCPB2 antigen induced a combination of humoral and cellular immune responses, which manifested as a mixed Th1/Th2 response, as well as remarkably elevated IgE level. Moreover, vaccination of mice with TsCPB2 that were subsequently challenged with T. spiralis larvae resulted in a 52.3% (P < .001) reduction in worm burden and a 51.2% (P < .001) reduction in muscle larval burden. Our results suggest that TsCPB2 induces protective immunity in Trichinella-infected mice and might be a novel vaccine candidate against trichinellosis.