vaccine
Microbial Immunity and VaccinesEvaluation of the Immunogenicity and Protective Efficacy of an Enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli CFA/I Adhesin–Heat-Labile Toxin ChimeraRecent efforts to develop an enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli (ETEC) vaccine have focused on the antigenically conserved tip adhesins of colonization factors. We showed previously that intranasal immunization with dsc19CfaE, a soluble variant of the in cis donor strand-complemented tip adhesin of a colonization factor of the class 5 family (CFA/I)...
Microbial Immunity and VaccinesVaccination with Secreted Aspartyl Proteinase 2 Protein from Candida parapsilosis Can Enhance Survival of Mice during C. tropicalis-Mediated Systemic CandidiasisThe rising incidence of non-albicans Candida species globally, along with the emergence of drug resistance, is a cause for concern. This study investigated the protective efficacy of secreted aspartyl proteinase 2 (Sap2) in systemic C. tropicalis infection. Vaccination with recombinant Sap2 (rSap2) protein from...
Cellular Microbiology: Pathogen-Host Cell Molecular Interactions | SpotlightImmunization against Anaplasma phagocytophilum Adhesin Binding Domains Confers Protection against Infection in the Mouse ModelAnaplasma phagocytophilum causes granulocytic anaplasmosis, a debilitating infection that can be fatal in the immunocompromised. It also afflicts animals, including dogs, horses, and sheep. No granulocytic anaplasmosis vaccine exists. Because A. phagocytophilum is an obligate intracellular bacterium...
Fungal and Parasitic InfectionsImportance of the Immunodominant CD8+ T Cell Epitope of Plasmodium berghei Circumsporozoite Protein in Parasite- and Vaccine-Induced ProtectionThe circumsporozoite protein (CSP) builds up the surface coat of sporozoites and is the leading malaria pre-erythrocytic-stage vaccine candidate. CSP has been shown to induce robust CD8+ T cell responses that are capable of eliminating developing parasites in hepatocytes, resulting in protective immunity. In this study, we characterized the importance of the immunodominant CSP-derived epitope SYIPSAEKI of...
Bacterial InfectionsNontypeable Haemophilus influenzae Type IV Pilus Mediates Augmented Adherence to Rhinovirus-Infected Human Airway Epithelial CellsHuman rhinovirus (hRV) is frequently detected in the upper respiratory tract, and symptomatic infection is associated with an increased nasopharyngeal bacterial load, with subsequent development of secondary bacterial diseases. Nontypeable Haemophilus influenzae (NTHI) is a commensal bacterial species of the human nasopharynx; however, in the context of prior or...
Microbial Immunity and VaccinesProgress towards the Development of a NEAT Vaccine for Anthrax II: Immunogen Specificity and Alum Effectiveness in an Inhalational ModelBacillus anthracis is the causative agent of anthrax disease, presents with high mortality, and has been at the center of bioweapon efforts. The only currently U.S. FDA-approved vaccine to prevent anthrax in humans is anthrax vaccine adsorbed (AVA), which is protective in several animal models and induces neutralizing antibodies against protective antigen (PA), the...
Microbial Immunity and VaccinesThe Factor H-Binding Site of CspZ as a Protective Target against Multistrain, Tick-Transmitted Lyme DiseaseThe spirochete Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato is the causative agent of Lyme disease (LD). The spirochetes produce the CspZ protein that binds to a complement regulator, factor H (FH). Such binding downregulates activation of host complement to facilitate spirochete evasion of complement killing. However, vaccination with CspZ does not protect against LD...
Microbial Immunity and Vaccines | SpotlightBroadly Protective Multivalent OspA Vaccine against Lyme Borreliosis, Developed Based on Surface Shaping of the C-Terminal FragmentThe development of vaccines for prevention of diseases caused by pathogenic species can encounter major obstacles if high sequence diversity is observed between individual strains. Therefore, development might be restricted either to conserved antigens, which are often rare, or to multivalent vaccines, which renders the production more costly and cumbersome. In light of this complexity, we applied a structure-based surface shaping...
Microbial Immunity and VaccinesVaccine-Specific Immune Responses against Mycobacterium ulcerans Infection in a Low-Dose Murine Challenge ModelThe neglected tropical disease Buruli ulcer (BU) is an infection of subcutaneous tissue with Mycobacterium ulcerans. There is no effective vaccine. Here, we assessed an experimental prime-boost vaccine in a low-dose murine tail infection model. We used the enoyl reductase (ER) domain of the M. ulcerans...
Microbial Immunity and VaccinesConstruction and Characterization of the Mycobacterium tuberculosis sigE fadD26 Unmarked Double Mutant as a Vaccine CandidateDespite the great increase in the understanding of the biology and pathogenesis of Mycobacterium tuberculosis achieved by the scientific community in recent decades, tuberculosis (TB) still represents one of the major threats to global human health.