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In this work, we produced 15 recombinant VtaA passenger domains and looked for the presence of antibodies directed against them in immune sera by immunoblotting. After infection with a subclinical dose of H. parasuis Nagasaki, an IgG mediated antibody response against 6 (VtaA1, 5, 6, 8, 9 and 10) of the 13 VtaA of the Nagasaki strain was detected, indicating that they are expressed in vivo. IgA production against VtaA was detected in only one animal. VtaA were more likely to be late antigens when compared to early (Omp P5 and Omp P6) and late (YaeT) defined antigens. Antibody cross-reaction with two orthologs of Nagasaki’s VtaA5 and 6, VtaA15 and 16 of strain HP1319, was also detected. No antibodies against VtaA were detected in the sera of animals immunized with a bacterin of the Nagasaki strain, suggesting poor expression in the in vitro conditions used.
Taken together, these results indicate that VtaA are good candidate immunogens that could be used to improve H. parasuis vaccines. However, their capacity to confer protective immunity needs to be further studied.
A. Olvera, S. Pina, M. Pérez-Simó, S. Oliveira and A. Bensaid. Virulence-associated trimeric autotransporters of Haemophilus parasuis are antigenic proteins expressed in vivo. Vet. Res. 2010. Vol. 41 (3).
