Adjuvant Effects of Recombinant Plasmids of Porcine IL-4 and IFN-γ to Cysticercosis cellulosae Vaccines in Mice and Pigs

To investigate the adjuvant potential of porcine IL-4 and IFN-γ in mice and pigs, the genes of porcine IL-4 and IFN-γ were cloned and the recombinant mammalian expression plasmids were constructed for in vivo expression of the cytokines. Adjuvant effects of recombinant expression plasmids of IL-4 and IFN-γ (pcDNA-IL-4, pcDNA-IFN-γ) co-administrated with Cysticercus cellulosae crude antigen or TSOL18 recombinant protein antigen have been carried out in mice and pigs, respectively. We have demonstrated that recombinant plasmids of the cytokines as an adjuvant could induce stronger immune response in mice and pigs. With the C. cellulosae parasite antigen, porcine pcDNA-IL-4 induced higher specific antibody of immunized mice than pcDNA-IFN-γ. But pcDNA-IFN-γ is significantly stronger than that of no adjuvant or empty plasmids with the antigen control group. For the TSOL18 recombinant protein antigen vaccine, pcDNA-IL-4 still had a stronger ability to enhance specific antibody in swine than pcDNA-IFN-γ (P < 0.01), but the immune protective rate was lower in challenged pigs (only 68.7%). Although pcDNA-IFN-γ showed lower specific antibody, the protection rate was very high (91%) than other group (P < 0.01). This study indicated that the recombinant expression plasmids of porcine IL-4 and IFN-γ display stronger adjuvant effects to C. cellulosae vaccine, further research should be carried out for understanding of the interaction mechanism.