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Infection and Immunity, December 2004, p. 6951-6960, Vol. 72, No. 12
0019-9567/04/$08.00+0     DOI: 10.1128/IAI.72.12.6951-6960.2004
Copyright © 2004, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Redirecting the Humoral Immune Response against Streptococcus mutans Antigen P1 with Monoclonal Antibodies

Monika W. Oli, Nikki Rhodin, William P. McArthur, and L. Jeannine Brady^*

Department of Oral Biology, College of Dentistry, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida

Received 10 June 2004/ Returned for modification 23 July 2004/ Accepted 12 August 2004

The adhesin P1 of Streptococcus mutans has been studied as an anticaries vaccine antigen. An anti-P1 monoclonal antibody (MAb) bound to S. mutans prior to mucosal immunization of mice was shown previously to alter the amount, specificity, isotype, and biological activity of anti-P1 antibodies. The present study was undertaken to screen this and four additional anti-P1 MAbs for immunomodulatory activity when complexed with S. mutans and administered by a systemic route and to evaluate sera from immunized mice for the ability to inhibit adherence of S. mutans to immobilized human salivary agglutinin. All five MAbs tested influenced murine anti-P1 serum antibody responses in terms of subclass distribution and/or specificity. The effects varied depending on which MAb was used and its coating concentration. Two MAbs promoted a more effective, and two others a less effective, adherence inhibition response. An inverse relationship was observed between the ability of the MAbs themselves to inhibit adherence and the ability of antibodies elicited following immunization with immune complexes to inhibit adherence. Statistically significant correlations were demonstrated between the levels of anti-P1 serum immunoglobulin G2a (IgG2a) and IgG2b, but not of IgG1 or IgG3, and the ability of sera from immunized animals to inhibit bacterial adherence. These results indicate that multiple anti-P1 MAbs can mediate changes in the immune response and that certain alterations are potentially more biologically relevant than others. Immunomodulation by anti-P1 MAbs represents a useful strategy to improve the beneficial immune response against S. mutans.

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* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Department of Oral Biology, P.O. Box 100424, Health Science Center, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32610-0424. Phone: (352) 846-0785. Fax: (352) 846-0786. E-mail: jbrady{at}dental.ufl.edu.

Editor: J. D. Clements

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Infection and Immunity, December 2004, p. 6951-6960, Vol. 72, No. 12
0019-9567/04/$08.00+0     DOI: 10.1128/IAI.72.12.6951-6960.2004
Copyright © 2004, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

This article has been cited by other articles:

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• Brady, L. J. (2005). Antibody-Mediated Immunomodulation: a Strategy To Improve Host Responses against Microbial Antigens. Infect. Immun. 73: 671-678 [Full Text]