Sublingual vaccination with outer membrane protein of Porphyromonas gingivalis and Flt3 ligand elicits protective immunity in the oral cavity

In this study, we demonstrated that the 40-kDa outer membrane protein of Porphyromonas gingivalis (40k-OMP) sublingually administered with a cDNA vector plasmid encoding Flt3 ligand (pFL) elicited a protective immune response. Sublingual immunization of mice with 40k-OMP plus pFL induced significant serum IgG and IgA, as well as salivary IgA, antibody responses that were comparable to those induced by 40k-OMP plus cholera toxin as adjuvant. When the subclasses of 40k-OMP-specific IgG were evaluated, sublingual immunization with 40k-OMP plus pFL induced both IgG1 and IgG2a antibody responses. Sublingual delivery of pFL resulted in FL expression in submandibular glands, but not in other oral tissues. Furthermore, marked increases in FL protein occurred in saliva and serum, and the frequencies of both CD11c⁺CD11b⁺ and CD11c⁺CD8α⁺ dendritic cells with up-regulated expression of CD80, CD86 and CD40 molecules significantly increased in submandibular lymph nodes and spleen. Importantly, the mice given sublingual 40k-OMP plus pFL showed a significant reduction of alveolar bone loss caused by oral infection with P. gingivalis. These findings suggest that sublingual administration of 40k-OMP with pFL acts as an effective and safe mucosal vaccine against oral P. gingivalis infection, and may be a useful tool in the prevention of chronic periodontitis.