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Infection and Immunity, April 2000, p. 1796-1805, Vol. 68, No. 4
University of Florida, Department of Oral
Biology, Gainesville, Florida 32610
Received 7 September 1999/Returned for modification 1 October
1999/Accepted 21 December 1999
Systemic immunization with antigen coupled to monoclonal antibody
(MAb) has been used by several investigators to increase the number of
MAb-producing hybridomas against an antigen and to elicit antibodies
specific for poorly immunogenic epitopes. This strategy has
implications for vaccine design in that protective immunity is not
necessarily directed at immunodominant epitopes of pathogens and may be
improved by deliberately shifting the immune response toward
subdominant epitopes. To our knowledge, no studies to date have
addressed the potential for immunomodulatory activity mediated by MAbs
bound to mucosally applied antigen. To test whether administration of
an exogenous MAb directed against a streptococcal surface protein could
influence the humoral immune response, BALB/c mice were immunized
orally by gastric intubation or intranasally with Streptococcus
mutans alone or S. mutans complexed with a MAb
directed against the major surface protein P1. Significant changes in
the subclass distribution, as well as the specificity, of anti-P1 serum
immunoglobulin G antibodies were demonstrated in groups of mice which
received S. mutans coated with the anti-P1 MAb versus those
which received S. mutans alone. Alterations in the humoral
immune response were dependent on the amount of anti-P1 MAb used to
coat the bacteria. In addition, differences in the anti-P1 immune
responses were observed between groups of mice immunized via oral
versus intranasal routes. In summary, an exogenous MAb complexed with a
streptococcal antigen prior to mucosal immunization can influence the
immunoglobulin isotype and specificity of the host humoral immune
response against the antigen.
0019-9567/00/$04.00+0
Copyright © 2000, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.
Monoclonal Antibody-Mediated Modulation of the
Humoral Immune Response against Mucosally Applied
Streptococcus mutans
*
Corresponding author. Mailing address: Department of
Oral Biology, University of Florida, JHMHC Box 100424, Gainesville, FL 32610. Phone: (352) 846-0785. Fax: (352) 392-7357. E-mail:
jbrady{at}dental.ufl.edu.
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