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Protection against experimental aspergillosis by heat-killed yeast is not antibody dependent

Karl V Clemons1, Marife Martinez, Vicky Chen

  • 1California Institute for Medical Research, San Jose, CA.

Medical Mycology
|March 15, 2014
PubMed

Insights

Heat-killed yeast (HKY) vaccination protects against fungal infections in mice. This study found that antibodies are not essential for this protection, suggesting other immune mechanisms are at play in combating aspergillosis.

Area of Science:

  • Immunology
  • Mycology
  • Vaccinology

Background:

  • Heat-killed yeast (HKY) of Saccharomyces cerevisiae demonstrates protective effects against systemic murine aspergillosis.
  • HKY vaccination is known to elicit both antibody and cellular immune responses.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the specific role of antibodies in the protective immunity conferred by HKY vaccination against systemic murine aspergillosis.
  • To compare the efficacy of HKY vaccination in antibody knockout (KO) mice versus wild-type (WT) mice.

Main Methods:

  • Male antibody knockout (B6.129S2-Igh-6 (tm1Cgn)/J) and C57BL/6 wild-type mice were vaccinated with HKY or phosphate-buffered saline (PBS).
  • Vaccination regimens included three or four doses administered subcutaneously.
  • Mice were infected intravenously with Aspergillus fumigatus conidia, and survival was monitored for 12 days.

Main Results:

  • HKY vaccination, administered four times, significantly prolonged survival in both WT and KO mice compared to PBS controls (P < 0.0001).
  • A three-dose HKY regimen was also effective in prolonging survival (P = 0.0002), with no significant difference between three- and four-dose schedules.
  • No significant survival differences were observed between vaccinated WT and KO mice, indicating antibodies are not crucial for HKY-induced protection.
  • PBS-treated KO mice showed similar susceptibility to infection as PBS-treated WT mice, suggesting no role for antibodies in innate resistance.

Conclusions:

  • Antibodies do not appear to play a significant role in the protective effect of heat-killed yeast (HKY) vaccination against systemic aspergillosis in mice.
  • The findings suggest that cellular immunity or other antibody-independent mechanisms are primarily responsible for HKY-mediated protection.
  • HKY vaccination offers a promising strategy for aspergillosis prevention, independent of the host's antibody production capacity.
Keywords:
antibodyaspergillosisheat-killed yeastmurine modelvaccine

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