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Gilkes AP, Albin TJ, Manna S, Supnet M, Ruiz S, Tom J, Badten AJ, Jain A, Nakajima R, Felgner J, Davies DH, Stetkevich SA, Zlotnik A, Pearlman E, Nalca A, Felgner PL, Esser-Kahn AP, Burkhardt AM. Tuning Subunit Vaccines with Novel TLR Triagonist Adjuvants to Generate Protective Immune Responses against Coxiella burnetii. THE JOURNAL OF IMMUNOLOGY 2019; 204:611-621. [PMID: 31871024 DOI: 10.4049/jimmunol.1900991] [Citation(s) in RCA: 20] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/19/2019] [Accepted: 11/16/2019] [Indexed: 12/11/2022]
Abstract
Coxiella burnetii is an obligate intracellular bacterium and the causative agent of Q fever. C. burnetii is considered a potential bioterrorism agent because of its low infectious dose; resistance to heat, drying, and common disinfectants; and lack of prophylactic therapies. Q-Vax, a formalin-inactivated whole-bacteria vaccine, is currently the only prophylactic measure that is protective against C. burnetii infections but is not U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved. To overcome the safety concerns associated with the whole-bacteria vaccine, we sought to generate and evaluate recombinant protein subunit vaccines against C. burnetii To accomplish this, we formulated C. burnetii Ags with a novel TLR triagonist adjuvant platform, which used combinatorial chemistry to link three different TLR agonists together to form one adjuvanting complex. We evaluated the immunomodulatory activity of a panel of TLR triagonist adjuvants and found that they elicited unique Ag-specific immune responses both in vitro and in vivo. We evaluated our top candidates in a live C. burnetii aerosol challenge model in C56BL/6 mice and found that several of our novel vaccine formulations conferred varying levels of protection to the challenged animals compared with sham immunized mice, although none of our candidates were as protective as the commercial vaccine across all protection criteria that were analyzed. Our findings characterize a novel adjuvant platform and offer an alternative approach to generating protective and effective vaccines against C. burnetii.
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Affiliation(s)
- Adrienne P Gilkes
- Vaccine Research and Design Center, Department of Physiology and Biophysics, University of California, Irvine, Irvine, CA 92697.,Institute for Immunology, University of California, Irvine, Irvine, CA 92697
| | - Tyler J Albin
- Department of Chemistry, University of California, Irvine, Irvine, CA 92697
| | - Saikat Manna
- Department of Chemistry, University of California, Irvine, Irvine, CA 92697.,The Institute for Molecular Engineering, The University of Chicago, Chicago, IL 60637; and
| | - Medalyn Supnet
- Vaccine Research and Design Center, Department of Physiology and Biophysics, University of California, Irvine, Irvine, CA 92697.,Institute for Immunology, University of California, Irvine, Irvine, CA 92697
| | - Sara Ruiz
- U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases, Frederick, MD 21702
| | - Janine Tom
- Department of Chemistry, University of California, Irvine, Irvine, CA 92697
| | - Alexander J Badten
- Vaccine Research and Design Center, Department of Physiology and Biophysics, University of California, Irvine, Irvine, CA 92697.,Institute for Immunology, University of California, Irvine, Irvine, CA 92697
| | - Aarti Jain
- Vaccine Research and Design Center, Department of Physiology and Biophysics, University of California, Irvine, Irvine, CA 92697.,Institute for Immunology, University of California, Irvine, Irvine, CA 92697
| | - Rie Nakajima
- Vaccine Research and Design Center, Department of Physiology and Biophysics, University of California, Irvine, Irvine, CA 92697.,Institute for Immunology, University of California, Irvine, Irvine, CA 92697
| | - Jiin Felgner
- Vaccine Research and Design Center, Department of Physiology and Biophysics, University of California, Irvine, Irvine, CA 92697.,Institute for Immunology, University of California, Irvine, Irvine, CA 92697
| | - D Huw Davies
- Vaccine Research and Design Center, Department of Physiology and Biophysics, University of California, Irvine, Irvine, CA 92697.,Institute for Immunology, University of California, Irvine, Irvine, CA 92697
| | | | - Albert Zlotnik
- Vaccine Research and Design Center, Department of Physiology and Biophysics, University of California, Irvine, Irvine, CA 92697.,Institute for Immunology, University of California, Irvine, Irvine, CA 92697
| | - Eric Pearlman
- Vaccine Research and Design Center, Department of Physiology and Biophysics, University of California, Irvine, Irvine, CA 92697.,Institute for Immunology, University of California, Irvine, Irvine, CA 92697
| | - Aysegul Nalca
- U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases, Frederick, MD 21702
| | - Philip L Felgner
- Vaccine Research and Design Center, Department of Physiology and Biophysics, University of California, Irvine, Irvine, CA 92697.,Institute for Immunology, University of California, Irvine, Irvine, CA 92697
| | - Aaron P Esser-Kahn
- Vaccine Research and Design Center, Department of Physiology and Biophysics, University of California, Irvine, Irvine, CA 92697; .,The Institute for Molecular Engineering, The University of Chicago, Chicago, IL 60637; and
| | - Amanda M Burkhardt
- Vaccine Research and Design Center, Department of Physiology and Biophysics, University of California, Irvine, Irvine, CA 92697; .,Institute for Immunology, University of California, Irvine, Irvine, CA 92697
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Cabezas C, Barrientos C, Largo A, Guillemin JC, Cernicharo J, Alonso JL. Alkaline and Alkaline-earth Cyanoacetylides: A Combined Theoretical and Rotational Spectroscopic Investigation. J Chem Phys 2019; 151:054312. [PMID: 31511749 PMCID: PMC6739221 DOI: 10.1063/1.5110670] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/14/2022] Open
Abstract
The metallic cyanoacetylides LiC3N, NaC3N, MgC3N and CaC3N have been investigated by combined spectroscopy measurements and theoretical calculations. The theoretical calculations predict for the four species that the linear isomer with formula MCCCN (M= Li, Na, Mg and Ca) is the most stable one. We used the laser ablation molecular beam Fourier transform microwave spectroscopy to synthesize these species by the reaction of metal vapors, produced by laser ablation, and the 3-bromo-2-propynenitrile (BrCCCN). The pure rotational spectra were observed by Fourier transform microwave spectroscopy in the 2-18 GHz frequency region only for LiCCCN and NaCCCN, while no spectral signatures for MgCCCN and CaCCCN could be detected. Finally, we have searched for LiCCCN and NaCCCN species towards the carbon-rich evolved star IRC + 10216 but only upper limits to their abundances have been obtained.
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Affiliation(s)
- Carlos Cabezas
- Grupo de Espectroscopia Molecular (GEM). Edificio Quifima. Laboratorios de Espectroscopia y Bioespectroscopia. Unidad Asociada CSIC, Parque Científico Uva, Universidad de Valladolid, Paseo de Belén 5, 47011 Valladolid, Spain
| | - Carmen Barrientos
- Departamento de Química Física y Química Inorgánica, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de Valladolid Campus Miguel Delibes, Paseo de Belén 7, 47011 Valladolid, Spain
| | - Antonio Largo
- Departamento de Química Física y Química Inorgánica, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de Valladolid Campus Miguel Delibes, Paseo de Belén 7, 47011 Valladolid, Spain
| | - Jean-Claude Guillemin
- Univ. Rennes, Ecole Nationale Supérieure de Chimie de Rennes, CNRS, ISCR – UMR6226, F-35000 Rennes, France
| | - José Cernicharo
- Instituto de Física Fundamental (IFF, CSIC). Group of Molecular Astrophysics, C/Serrano 123, 28006 Madrid, Spain
| | - José L. Alonso
- Grupo de Espectroscopia Molecular (GEM). Edificio Quifima. Laboratorios de Espectroscopia y Bioespectroscopia. Unidad Asociada CSIC, Parque Científico Uva, Universidad de Valladolid, Paseo de Belén 5, 47011 Valladolid, Spain
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