IAI FigSearch
Home Help [Feedback] [For Subscribers] [Archive] [Search] [Contents]
This Article
Right arrow Full Text
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrowReprints and Permissions
Right arrow Copyright Information
Right arrow Books from ASM Press
Right arrow MicrobeWorld
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via HighWire
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Brossier, F.
Right arrow Articles by Sirard, J.-C.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Brossier, F.
Right arrow Articles by Sirard, J.-C.

 Previous Article  |  Next Article 

Infection and Immunity, October 2000, p. 5731-5734, Vol. 68, No. 10
0019-9567/00/$04.00+0
Copyright © 2000, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.

Protective Antigen-Mediated Antibody Response against a Heterologous Protein Produced In Vivo by Bacillus anthracis

Fabien Brossier,* Martine Weber-Levy, Michèle Mock, and Jean-Claude Sirarddagger

Unité Toxines et Pathogénie Bactériennes, Institut Pasteur, 75724 Paris Cedex 15, France

Received 17 April 2000/Returned for modification 10 June 2000/Accepted 22 July 2000

Bacillus anthracis secretes a lethal toxin composed of two proteins, the lethal factor (LF) and the protective antigen (PA), which interact within the host or in vitro at the surfaces of eukaryotic cells. Immunization with attenuated B. anthracis strains induces an antibody response against PA and LF. The LF-specific response is potentiated by the binding of LF to PA. In this study, we investigated the capacity of PA to increase the antibody response against a foreign antigen. We constructed a chimeric gene encoding the PA-binding part of LF (LF254) fused to the C fragment of tetanus toxin (ToxC). The construct was introduced by allelic exchange into the locus encoding LF. Two recombinant B. anthracis strains secreting the hybrid protein LF254-ToxC were generated, one in a PA-producing background and the other in a PA-deficient background. Mice were immunized with spores of the strains, and the humoral response and protection against tetanus toxin were assessed. The B. anthracis strain producing both PA and LF254-ToxC induced significantly higher antibody titers and provided better protection against a lethal challenge with tetanus toxin than did its PA-deficient counterpart. Thus, PA is able to potentiate protective immunity against a heterologous antigen, demonstrating the potential of B. anthracis recombinant strains for use as live vaccine vehicles.


* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Unité Toxines et Pathogénie Bactériennes (URA 1858, CNRS), Institut Pasteur, 28, rue du Dr. Roux, 75724 Paris Cedex 15, France. Phone: (33) 1.45.68.82.59. Fax: (33) 1.45.68.89.54. E-mail: fbrossie{at}pasteur.fr.

dagger Present address: Institut Suisse de Recherche Expérimentale sur le Cancer, 1066 Epalinges, Switzerland.


Infection and Immunity, October 2000, p. 5731-5734, Vol. 68, No. 10
0019-9567/00/$04.00+0
Copyright © 2000, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.



This article has been cited by other articles:




Home Help [Feedback] [For Subscribers] [Archive] [Search] [Contents]
J. Bacteriol. J. Virol. Eukaryot. Cell
Microbiol. Mol. Biol. Rev. Clin. Vaccine Immunol. All ASM Journals

Copyright © 2000 by the American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.