DnaJ, A Promising Vaccine Candidate Against Ureaplasma Urealyticum Infection

Background: Ureaplasma urealyticum (Uu) is an important sexually transmitted pathogen that is responsible for diseases such as non-gonococcal urethritis, chorioamnionitis and neonatal respiratory diseases. The rapid emergence of multidrug-resistant bacteria threatens the effective treatment of U. urealyticum infections. Considering this, vaccination could be an efficacious medical intervention to prevent U. urealyticum infection and disease. As a highly conserved molecular chaperone, DnaJ is expressed and upregulated by pathogens soon after infection. Here, we assessed the potential of recombinant DnaJ vaccine in a mouse model and dendritic cells (DCs). Results: : The results showed that intramuscular administration of recombinant DnaJ induced robust humoral- and T helper (Th) 1 cell-mediated immune responses and protected against cervical infection, inflammation, and the pathologic sequelae after U. urealyticum infection. Importantly, DnaJ also induced the maturation of mouse bone marrow-derived DCs (BMDCs), ultimately promoting naïve T-cell differentiation towards the Th1 phenotype. In addition, adoptive immunisation of DnaJ-pulsed BMDCs elicited antigen-specific immunoglobulin G2 antibodies as well as a Th1-biased cellular response in mice. Conclusion: We concluded that DnaJ can be a promising vaccine candidate to control U. urealyticum infections.