Filamentous Hemagglutinin and Pertussis Toxin fromBordetella pertussisModulate Immune Responses to Unrelated Antigens

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Abstract
We read with interest the article by Fischer et al. [1] demonstrating modulation of respiratory syncytial virus (RSV)—specific immune responses following co-administration of active pertussis toxin (PT) or an acellular diphtheria-tetanus-pertussis vaccine (DTPa) and RSV. The adjuvant and immunomodulatory properties of bacterial toxins (especially the AB toxins, such as PT, heat-labile toxin [LT] from Escherichia coli, and cholera toxin) are well recognized. We have reported that both PT [2] and LT [3] can modulate Th1 and Th2 responses to co-injected antigens. We found that active PT or a nontoxic recombinant PT molecule with mutations in the A subunit enhances Th1 and Th2 as well as IgG1 and IgG2a responses to co-injected antigens [2]. However, when we used proteins rather than formulated vaccines, we did not detect an adjuvant effect of chemically treated PT or of a PT molecule with mutations in either the S-1 or binding domains that abrogated enzyme activity and receptor interaction.

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