Bacterial production of recombinant contraceptive vaccine antigen from CatSper displayed on a human papilloma virus-like particle

Vaccine. 2023 Nov 2;41(46):6791-6801. doi: 10.1016/j.vaccine.2023.09.044. Epub 2023 Oct 11.

Abstract

CatSper is a voltage dependent calcium ion channel present in the principal piece of sperm tail. It plays a crucial role in sperm hyperactivated motility and so in fertilization. Extracellular loops of mouse sperm CatSper were used to develop a vaccine to achieve protection from pregnancy. These loops were inserted at one of the three hypervariable regions of Human Papilloma Virus (HPV) capsid protein (L1). Recombinant vaccines were expressed in E.coli as inclusion body (IB), purified, refolded and assembled into virus-like particles (VLP) in vitro, and adsorbed on alum. Four vaccine candidates were tested in Balb/C mice. All the constructs proved immunogenic, one showed contraceptive efficacy. This recombinant contraceptive vaccine is a non-hormonal intervention and is expected to give long-acting protection from undesired pregnancies.

Keywords: Ca2+ ion channel; CatSper; Contraceptive vaccine.

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Capsid Proteins* / genetics
  • Capsid Proteins* / immunology
  • Escherichia coli* / genetics
  • Escherichia coli* / metabolism
  • Female
  • Human Papillomavirus Viruses
  • Humans
  • Male
  • Mice
  • Mice, Inbred BALB C*
  • Papillomavirus Vaccines / administration & dosage
  • Papillomavirus Vaccines / genetics
  • Papillomavirus Vaccines / immunology
  • Pregnancy
  • Vaccines, Contraceptive* / immunology
  • Vaccines, Synthetic* / administration & dosage
  • Vaccines, Synthetic* / immunology
  • Vaccines, Virus-Like Particle* / immunology

Substances

  • Vaccines, Virus-Like Particle
  • Vaccines, Synthetic
  • Capsid Proteins
  • Vaccines, Contraceptive
  • Papillomavirus Vaccines