Outer membrane vesicles obtained from Bordetella pertussis Tohama expressing the lipid A deacylase PagL as a novel acellular vaccine candidate.

In an effort to devise a safer and effective pertussis acelullar vaccine, outer membrane vesicles (OMVs) were engineered to decrease their endotoxicity. The pagL gene from Bordetella bronchiseptica, which encodes a lipid A 3-deacylase, was expressed in Bordetella pertussis strain Tohama I. The resulting OMVs, designated OMVs(BpPagL), contain tetra- instead of penta-acylated LOS, in addition to pertussis surface immunogens such as pertactin and pertussis toxin, as the wild type OMVs. The characterized pertussis OMVs(BpPagL) were used in murine B. pertussis intranasal (i.n.) challenge model to examine their protective capacity when delivered by i.n. routes. Immunized BALB/c mice were challenged with sublethal doses of B. pertussis. Significant differences between immunized animals and the PBS treated group were observed (p<0.001). Adequate elimination rates (p<0.005) were observed in mice immunized either with OMVs(BpPagL) and wild type OMVs. All OMV preparations tested were non toxic according to WHO criteria; however, OMVs(BpPagL) displayed almost no weight loss at 3 days post administration, indicating less toxicity when compared with wild type OMVs. Induction of IL6- and IL1-expression in lung after i.n. delivery as well as neutrophil recruitment to airways showed coincident results, with a lower induction of the proinflammatory cytokines and lower recruitment in the case of OMVs(BpPagL) compared to wild type OMVs. Given their lower endotoxic activity and retained protective capacity in the mouse model, OMVs(BpPagL) obtained from B. pertussis seem as interesting candidates to be considered for the development of novel multi-antigen vaccine.