We have recently shown that a mouse lung
infection model resulting in acute
pneumonia could be used for evaluating the protective immunity induced by mucosal
vaccines against Vibrio cholerae. In order to gain insight and better understanding of the pathogenicity of V. cholerae
infection, we identified and compared
proteins induced by V. cholerae in nasal washes, bronchoalveolar lavages (BAL), and sera.
Intranasal administration of V. cholerae increased the concentration of total
proteins in nasal washes and BAL fluids, but not in sera. LTQ-Orbitrap hybrid Fourier transform mass spectrometry showed that
cytoskeletal proteins,
protease inhibitors and anti-inflammatory mediators were present in nasal washes from uninfected mice. The distinctly expressed
proteins in nasal washes in response to V. cholerae mainly consisted of
protease inhibitors, anti-inflammatory
proteins, and anti-microbial
proteins. A number of
protease inhibitors and anti-inflammatory
proteins were selectively expressed in BAL fluids from V. cholerae-infected mice, while
cytoskeletal proteins and
heat shock proteins were mainly observed in BAL fluids from uninfected mice. A large number of serum complements,
protease inhibitors, and
acute phase proteins were expressed in V. cholerae-infected mice. Collectively, these results suggest that
intranasal administration of V. cholerae leading to acute
pneumonia elicited alterations of
protein profiles associated with immune homeostasis and host protection in both the mucosal and systemic compartments.