Abstract
Somatostatin (SS) is a hormone that inhibits growth hormone secretion. Cholera toxin B subunit (CTB) is a widely used adjuvant to improve the immunogenicity of co-administrated antigen. To block the growth hormone-inhibiting effect of SS, a fusion gene of CTB and SS was constructed and expressed in Escherichia coli. The purified CTB/SS fusion protein polymerized into a biologically active pentamer required for CTB binding to the GM1 ganglioside receptor. Immunization with the CTB/SS protein induced specific immunity against CTB and SS in mice. The serum growth hormone of the CTB/SS-treated mice increased by 29 % (P < 0.05) compared with the control. The results indicated that the CTB/SS fusion protein was effective in inducing immune response against SS as well as elevating the growth hormone level.
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Acknowledgments
This work was supported by the Significant Project of Science and Technology of Zhejiang Province, P.R. China (No. 2009C14022), the Agricultural Project of Science and Technology of Zhejiang Province, P.R. China (Nos 2009C32079 and 2010C32029), the Key Project of Scientific and Technological Innovation Team of Zhejiang Province, China (No. 2010R50027), and the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities.
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Wu, B., Yuan, T., Qi, R. et al. Effect of immunization with a recombinant cholera toxin B subunit/somatostatin fusion protein on immune response and growth hormone levels in mice. Biotechnol Lett 34, 2199–2203 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10529-012-1027-z
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10529-012-1027-z