A fusion protein derived from Moraxella catarrhalis and Neisseria meningitidis aimed for immune modulation of human B cells

Immunogenicity of trimeric autotransporter adhesins and their potential as vaccine targets

The current problem of increasing antibiotic resistance and the resurgence of numerous infections indicate the need for novel vaccination strategies more than ever. In vaccine development, the search for and the selection of adequate vaccine antigens is the first important step. In recent years, bacterial outer membrane proteins have become of major interest, as they are the main proteins interacting with the extracellular environment. Trimeric autotransporter adhesins (TAAs) are important virulence factors in many Gram-negative bacteria, are localised on the bacterial surface, and mediate the first adherence to host cells in the course of infection. One example is the Neisseria adhesin A (NadA), which is currently used as a subunit in a licensed vaccine against Neisseria meningitidis. Other TAAs that seem promising vaccine candidates are the Acinetobacter trimeric autotransporter (Ata), the Haemophilus influenzae adhesin (Hia), and TAAs of the genus Bartonella. Here, we review the suitability of various TAAs as vaccine candidates.

Comparing autotransporter β-domain configurations for their capacity to secrete heterologous proteins to the cell surface

Monomeric autotransporters have been extensively used for export of recombinant proteins to the cell surface of Gram-negative bacteria. A bottleneck in the biosynthesis of such constructs is the passage of the outer membrane, which is facilitated by the β-domain at the C terminus of an autotransporter in conjunction with the Bam complex in the outer membrane. We have evaluated eight β-domain constructs for their capacity to secrete fused proteins to the cell surface. These constructs derive from the monomeric autotransporters Hbp, IgA protease, Ag43 and EstA and the trimeric autotransporter Hia, which all were selected because they have been previously used for secretion of recombinant proteins. We fused three different protein domains to the eight β-domain constructs, being a Myc-tag, the Hbp passenger and a nanobody or V_HH domain, and assessed expression, membrane insertion and surface exposure. Our results show that expression levels differed considerably between the constructs tested. The constructs that included the β-domains of Hbp and IgA protease appeared the most efficient and resulted in expression levels that were detectable on Coomassie-stained SDS-PAGE gels. The V_HH domain appeared the most difficult fusion partner to export, probably due to its complex immunoglobulin-like structure with a tertiary structure stabilized by an intramolecular disulfide bond. Overall, the Hbp β-domain compared favorably in exporting the fused recombinant proteins, because it showed in every instance tested a good level of expression, stable membrane insertion and clear surface exposure.