Construction of Prophylactic Human Papillomavirus Type 16 L1 Capsid Protein Vaccine Delivered by Live Attenuated Shigella flexneri Strain sh42

To express human papillomavirus (HPV) L1 capsid protein in the recombinant strain of Shigella and study the potential of a live attenuated Shigella‐based HPV prophylactic vaccine in preventing HPV infection, the icsA/virG fragment of Shigella‐based prokaryotic expression plasmid pHS3199 was constructed. HPV type 16 L1 (HPV16L1) gene was inserted into plasmid pHS3199 to form the pHS3199‐HPV16L1 construct, and pHS3199‐HPV16L1 was electroporated into a live attenuated Shigella strain sh42. Western blotting analysis showed that HPV16L1 could be expressed stably in the recombinant strain sh42‐HPV16L1. Sereny test results were negative, which showed that the sh42‐HPV16L1 lost virulence. However, the attenuated recombinant strain partially maintained the invasive property as indicated by the HeLa cell infection assay. Specific IgG, IgA antibody against HPV16L1 virus‐like particles (VLPs) were detected in the sera, intestinal lavage and vaginal lavage from animals immunized by sh42‐HPV16L1. The number of antibody‐secreting cells in the spleen and draining lymph nodes were increased significantly compared with the control group. Sera from immunized animals inhibited murine hemagglutination induced by HPV16L1 VLPs, which indicated that the candidate vaccine could stimulate an efficient immune response in guinea pig's mucosal sites. This may be an effective strategy for the development of an HPV prophylactic oral vaccine. Edited by Guang‐Di LI