Effect of in situ expression of human interleukin-6 on antibody responses against Salmonella typhimurium antigens

In an attempt to trigger increased mucosal secretory immune responses against bacterial surface antigens, we constructed an optimized human interleukin (hIL)-6-secreting Salmonella typhimurium strain (X4064(pCH1A+pYL3E)), utilizing the hemolysin (Hly) exporter for secretory delivery of a functional hIL-6-hemolysin fusion protein (hIL-6-HlyA s). Through stable introduction of a second hIL-6-HlyA s expression plasmid (pYL3E) in the previously described X4064(pCH1A) strain, hIL-6-HlyA s secretion efficiencies were increased by at least 10-fold. As pCH1A in the parental strain, pYL3E was stable in vitro in the absence of antibiotic selection and in vivo neither did plasmids interfere in their stabilities. Increased hIL-6-HlyA s expression did not adversely interfere with bacterial growth. Comparative immunization experiments in mice with oral application of the different hIL-6-secreting strains revealed that increased in situ hIL-6-production influenced systemic antibody responses against Salmonella antigens but had no marked effect on mucosal responses. In mice immunized with X4064(pCH1A+pYL3E) significantly higher sera IgG and IgA titers for lipopolysaccharide (LPS) were found compared to mice immunized with X4064(pCH1A) and a hIL-6-negative control strain. Higher sera antibody titers were accompanied by increased numbers of IgG- and IgA-specific antibody-secreting cells in spleens and Peyer’s patches, respectively. These data suggest that systemic antibody responses against Salmonella LPS are largely effected by IL-6 and, moreover, the amount and the cellular location of recombinantly expressed IL-6 appears to be crucial for enhancement of immune responses.