1
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Wang R, Oliveira LVN, Hester MM, Carlson D, Christensen D, Specht CA, Levitz SM. Protection against experimental cryptococcosis elicited by Cationic Adjuvant Formulation 01-adjuvanted subunit vaccines. BIORXIV : THE PREPRINT SERVER FOR BIOLOGY 2024:2024.04.24.591045. [PMID: 38712080 PMCID: PMC11071535 DOI: 10.1101/2024.04.24.591045] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/08/2024]
Abstract
The fungal infection, cryptococcosis, is responsible for >100,000 deaths annually. No licensed vaccines are available. We explored the efficacy and immune responses of subunit cryptococcal vaccines adjuvanted with Cationic Adjuvant Formulation 01 (CAF01). CAF01 promotes humoral and T helper (Th) 1 and Th17 immune responses and has been safely used in human vaccine trials. Four subcutaneous vaccines, each containing single recombinant Cryptococcus neoformans protein antigens, partially protected mice from experimental cryptococcosis. Protection increased, up to 100%, in mice that received bivalent and quadrivalent vaccine formulations. Vaccinated mice that received a pulmonary challenge with C. neoformans had an influx of leukocytes into the lung including robust numbers of polyfunctional CD4+ T cells which produced Interferon gamma (IFNγ), tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNFα), and interleukin (IL)-17 upon ex vivo antigenic stimulation. Cytokine-producing lung CD8+ T cells were also found, albeit in lesser numbers. A significant, durable IFNγ response was observed in the lungs, spleen, and blood. Moreover, IFNγ secretion following ex vivo stimulation directly correlated with fungal clearance in the lungs. Thus, we have developed multivalent cryptococcal vaccines which protect mice from experimental cryptococcosis using an adjuvant which has been safely tested in humans. These preclinical studies suggest a path towards human cryptococcal vaccine trials.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ruiying Wang
- Department of Medicine, University of Massachusetts Chan Medical School, Worcester, MA, USA
| | - Lorena V. N. Oliveira
- Department of Medicine, University of Massachusetts Chan Medical School, Worcester, MA, USA
| | - Maureen M. Hester
- Department of Medicine, University of Massachusetts Chan Medical School, Worcester, MA, USA
| | - Diana Carlson
- Department of Medicine, University of Massachusetts Chan Medical School, Worcester, MA, USA
| | - Dennis Christensen
- Statens Serum Institut, Copenhagen, Denmark
- Present address: Croda Pharma, Diplomvej 381, Lyngby 2800, Denmark
| | - Charles A. Specht
- Department of Medicine, University of Massachusetts Chan Medical School, Worcester, MA, USA
| | - Stuart M. Levitz
- Department of Medicine, University of Massachusetts Chan Medical School, Worcester, MA, USA
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2
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Milani B, dos Santos TW, Guerra MES, Oliveira S, Goulart C, André GO, Leite LCC, Converso TR, Darrieux M. Fusion of PspA to detoxified pneumolysin enhances pneumococcal vaccine coverage. PLoS One 2023; 18:e0291203. [PMID: 38096222 PMCID: PMC10721071 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0291203] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/23/2023] [Accepted: 08/23/2023] [Indexed: 12/17/2023] Open
Abstract
Despite the implementation of conjugate vaccines in several countries, S. pneumoniae continues to pose a great burden worldwide, causing around 1 million annual deaths. Pneumococcal proteins have long been investigated as serotype-independent vaccines against this pathogen, with promising results. However, it is a consensus that one antigen alone will not be sufficient to provide long-term protection with wide coverage. Amongst the most well studied pneumococcal proteins are PspA and pneumolysin (Ply), two major virulence factors required by the bacterium for successful invasion of host tissues. PspA is highly immunogenic and protective, but it is structurally variable; pneumolysin is conserved among different pneumococci, but it is toxic to the host. To overcome these limitations, N-terminal PspA fragments have been genetically fused to non-toxic pneumolysin derivatives (PlD) to create PspA_PlD chimeras. Mouse immunization with these fusions confers protection against pneumococcal strains expressing heterologous PspAs, which correlates with antibody-induced complement C3 deposition on the surface of multiple pneumococcal strains. Analysis of mutant strains lacking PspA or Pneumolysin shows that both proteins contribute to the antibody-mediated enhancement in complement deposition induced by the fusion. These results expand previous data evaluating PspA_PlD and demonstrate that the fusion combines the protective traits of both proteins, inducing antibodies that efficiently promote complement deposition on multiple strains and cross-protection.
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Affiliation(s)
- Barbara Milani
- Laboratório de Microbiologia Molecular e Clínica, Universidade São Francisco, Bragança Paulista, Brazil
| | - Tanila Wood dos Santos
- Laboratório de Microbiologia Molecular e Clínica, Universidade São Francisco, Bragança Paulista, Brazil
- Programa de Pós-Graduação Interunidades em Biotecnologia-USP-IPT-IB, São Paulo, Brazil
| | | | - Sheila Oliveira
- Laboratório de Microbiologia Molecular e Clínica, Universidade São Francisco, Bragança Paulista, Brazil
| | - Cibelly Goulart
- Centro de Biotecnologia, Instituto Butantan, São Paulo, Brazil
| | - Greiciely O. André
- Laboratório de Microbiologia Molecular e Clínica, Universidade São Francisco, Bragança Paulista, Brazil
| | | | - Thiago R Converso
- Laboratório de Microbiologia Molecular e Clínica, Universidade São Francisco, Bragança Paulista, Brazil
| | - Michelle Darrieux
- Laboratório de Microbiologia Molecular e Clínica, Universidade São Francisco, Bragança Paulista, Brazil
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3
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Li S, Liang H, Zhao SH, Yang XY, Guo Z. Recent progress in pneumococcal protein vaccines. Front Immunol 2023; 14:1278346. [PMID: 37818378 PMCID: PMC10560988 DOI: 10.3389/fimmu.2023.1278346] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/16/2023] [Accepted: 09/07/2023] [Indexed: 10/12/2023] Open
Abstract
Pneumococcal infections continue to pose a significant global health concern, necessitating the development of effective vaccines. Despite the progress shown by pneumococcal polysaccharide and conjugate vaccines, their limited coverage and the emergence of non-vaccine serotypes have highlighted the need for alternative approaches. Protein-based pneumococcal vaccines, targeting conserved surface proteins of Streptococcus pneumoniae, have emerged as a promising strategy. In this review, we provide an overview of the advancements made in the development of pneumococcal protein vaccines. We discuss the key protein vaccine candidates, highlight their vaccination results in animal studies, and explore the challenges and future directions in protein-based pneumococcal vaccine.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sha Li
- Zhuhai Key Laboratory of Basic and Applied Research in Chinese Medicine, School of Bioengineering, Zunyi Medical University, Zhuhai, Guangdong, China
| | - Hangeri Liang
- Zhuhai Key Laboratory of Basic and Applied Research in Chinese Medicine, School of Bioengineering, Zunyi Medical University, Zhuhai, Guangdong, China
| | - Shui-Hao Zhao
- Center for Biological Science and Technology, Advanced Institute of Natural Sciences, Beijing Normal University, Zhuhai, Guangdong, China
| | - Xiao-Yan Yang
- Zhuhai Key Laboratory of Basic and Applied Research in Chinese Medicine, School of Bioengineering, Zunyi Medical University, Zhuhai, Guangdong, China
| | - Zhong Guo
- Center for Biological Science and Technology, Advanced Institute of Natural Sciences, Beijing Normal University, Zhuhai, Guangdong, China
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4
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Afshari E, Ahangari Cohan R, Shams Nosrati MS, Mousavi SF. Development of a bivalent protein-based vaccine candidate against invasive pneumococcal diseases based on novel pneumococcal surface protein A in combination with pneumococcal histidine triad protein D. Front Immunol 2023; 14:1187773. [PMID: 37680628 PMCID: PMC10480505 DOI: 10.3389/fimmu.2023.1187773] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/16/2023] [Accepted: 08/01/2023] [Indexed: 09/09/2023] Open
Abstract
Extensive efforts have been made toward improving effective strategies for pneumococcal vaccination, focusing on evaluating the potential of multivalent protein-based vaccines and overcoming the limitations of pneumococcal polysaccharide-based vaccines. In this study, we investigated the protective potential of mice co-immunization with the pneumococcal PhtD and novel rPspA proteins against pneumococcal sepsis infection. The formulations of each antigen alone or in combination were administered intraperitoneally with alum adjuvant into BALB/c mice three times at 14-day intervals. The production of antigen-specific IgG, IgG1 and IgG2a subclasses, and IL-4 and IFN-γ cytokines, were analyzed. Two in vitro complement- and opsonophagocytic-mediated killing activities of raised antibodies on day 42 were also assessed. Finally, the protection against an intraperitoneal challenge with 106 CFU/mouse of multi-drug resistance of Streptococcus pneumoniae ATCC49619 was investigated. Our findings showed a significant increase in the anti-PhtD and anti-rPspA sera IgG levels in the immunized group with the PhtD+rPspA formulation compared to each alone. Moreover, the results demonstrated a synergistic effect with a 6.7- and 1.3- fold increase in anti-PhtD and anti-rPspA IgG1, as well as a 5.59- and 1.08- fold increase in anti-PhtD and anti-rPspA IgG2a, respectively. Co-administration of rPspA+PhtD elicited a mixture of Th-2 and Th-1 immune responses, more towards Th-2. In addition, the highest complement-mediated killing activity was observed in the sera of the immunized group with PhtD+rPspA at 1/16 dilution, and the opsonophagocytic activity was increased from 74% to 86.3%. Finally, the survival rates showed that mice receiving the rPspA+PhtD formulation survived significantly longer (100%) than those receiving protein alone or PBS and exhibited the strongest clearance with a 2 log10 decrease in bacterial load in the blood 24h after challenge compared to the control group. In conclusion, the rPspA+PhtD formulation can be considered a promising bivalent serotype-independent vaccine candidate for protection against invasive pneumococcal infection in the future.
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Affiliation(s)
- Elnaz Afshari
- Department of Biology, Science and Research Branch, Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran
- Department of Microbiology, Pasteur Institute of Iran, Tehran, Iran
| | - Reza Ahangari Cohan
- Department of Nanobiotechnology, New Technologies Research Group, Pasteur Institute of Iran, Tehran, Iran
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5
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Duke JA, Avci FY. Emerging vaccine strategies against the incessant pneumococcal disease. NPJ Vaccines 2023; 8:122. [PMID: 37591986 PMCID: PMC10435554 DOI: 10.1038/s41541-023-00715-w] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/03/2023] [Accepted: 08/01/2023] [Indexed: 08/19/2023] Open
Abstract
The incidence of invasive pneumococcal disease (IPD) caused by infection with the pathogen Streptococcus pneumoniae (Spn) has been on a downward trend for decades due to worldwide vaccination programs. Despite the clinical successes observed, the Center for Disease Control (CDC) reports that the continued global burden of S. pneumoniae will be in the millions each year, with a case-fatality rate hovering around 5%. Thus, it is a top priority to continue developing new Spn vaccination strategies to harness immunological insight and increase the magnitude of protection provided. As emphasized by the World Health Organization (WHO), it is also crucial to broaden the implementation of vaccines that are already obtainable in the clinical setting. This review focuses on the immune mechanisms triggered by existing pneumococcal vaccines and provides an overview of the current and upcoming clinical strategies being employed. We highlight the associated challenges of serotype selectivity and using pneumococcal-derived proteins as alternative vaccine antigens.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jeremy A Duke
- Sanofi, Suite 300, 2501 Discovery Drive, Orlando, FL, 32826, USA
| | - Fikri Y Avci
- Department of Biochemistry, Emory Vaccine Center, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, GA, 30322, USA.
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6
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Rafi MO, Al-Khafaji K, Mandal SM, Meghla NS, Biswas PK, Rahman MS. A subunit vaccine against pneumonia: targeting S treptococcus pneumoniae and Klebsiella pneumoniae. NETWORK MODELING AND ANALYSIS IN HEALTH INFORMATICS AND BIOINFORMATICS 2023; 12:21. [PMID: 37096010 PMCID: PMC10115389 DOI: 10.1007/s13721-023-00416-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/24/2022] [Revised: 03/25/2023] [Accepted: 04/09/2023] [Indexed: 04/26/2023]
Abstract
Community-acquired pneumonia is primarily caused by Streptococcus pneumoniae and Klebsiella pneumoniae, two pathogens that have high morbidity and mortality rates. This is largely due to bacterial resistance development against current antibiotics and the lack of effective vaccines. The objective of this work was to develop an immunogenic multi-epitope subunit vaccine capable of eliciting a robust immune response against S. pneumoniae and K. pneumoniae. The targeted proteins were the pneumococcal surface proteins (PspA and PspC) and choline-binding protein (CbpA) of S. pneumoniae and the outer membrane proteins (OmpA and OmpW) of K. pneumoniae. Different computational approaches and various immune filters were employed for designing a vaccine. The immunogenicity and safety of the vaccine were evaluated by utilizing many physicochemical and antigenic profiles. To improve structural stability, disulfide engineering was applied to a portion of the vaccine structure with high mobility. Molecular docking was performed to examine the binding affinities and biological interactions at the atomic level between the vaccine and Toll-like receptors (TLR2 and 4). Further, the dynamic stabilities of the vaccine and TLRs complexes were investigated by molecular dynamics simulations. While the immune response induction capability of the vaccine was assessed by the immune simulation study. Vaccine translation and expression efficiency was determined through an in silico cloning experiment utilizing the pET28a(+) plasmid vector. The obtained results revealed that the designed vaccine is structurally stable and able to generate an effective immune response to combat pneumococcal infection. Supplementary Information The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s13721-023-00416-3.
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Affiliation(s)
- Md. Oliullah Rafi
- Bioinformatics and Microbial Biotechnology Laboratory, Department of Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology, Jashore University of Science and Technology, Jashore, 7408 Bangladesh
- Department of Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology, Jashore University of Science and Technology, Jashore, 7408 Bangladesh
| | | | - Santi M. Mandal
- Central Research Facility, Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur, Kharagpur, 721302 India
| | - Nigar Sultana Meghla
- Department of Microbiology, Jashore University of Science and Technology, Jashore, 7408 Bangladesh
| | - Polash Kumar Biswas
- Department of Stem Cell and Regenerative Biotechnology, Incurable Disease Animal Model & Stem Cell Institute (IDASI), Konkuk University, 120 Neungdong-ro, Gwangjin-gu, Seoul, 05029 South Korea
| | - Md. Shahedur Rahman
- Bioinformatics and Microbial Biotechnology Laboratory, Department of Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology, Jashore University of Science and Technology, Jashore, 7408 Bangladesh
- Department of Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology, Jashore University of Science and Technology, Jashore, 7408 Bangladesh
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7
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Aceil J, Avci FY. Pneumococcal Surface Proteins as Virulence Factors, Immunogens, and Conserved Vaccine Targets. Front Cell Infect Microbiol 2022; 12:832254. [PMID: 35646747 PMCID: PMC9133333 DOI: 10.3389/fcimb.2022.832254] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/09/2021] [Accepted: 04/13/2022] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Streptococcus pneumoniae is an opportunistic pathogen that causes over 1 million deaths annually despite the availability of several multivalent pneumococcal conjugate vaccines (PCVs). Due to the limitations surrounding PCVs along with an evolutionary rise in antibiotic-resistant and unencapsulated strains, conserved immunogenic proteins as vaccine targets continue to be an important field of study for pneumococcal disease prevention. In this review, we provide an overview of multiple classes of conserved surface proteins that have been studied for their contribution to pneumococcal virulence. Furthermore, we discuss the immune responses observed in response to these proteins and their promise as vaccine targets.
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8
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Lane JR, Tata M, Briles DE, Orihuela CJ. A Jack of All Trades: The Role of Pneumococcal Surface Protein A in the Pathogenesis of Streptococcus pneumoniae. Front Cell Infect Microbiol 2022; 12:826264. [PMID: 35186799 PMCID: PMC8847780 DOI: 10.3389/fcimb.2022.826264] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/30/2021] [Accepted: 01/10/2022] [Indexed: 12/11/2022] Open
Abstract
Streptococcus pneumoniae (Spn), or the pneumococcus, is a Gram-positive bacterium that colonizes the upper airway. Spn is an opportunistic pathogen capable of life-threatening disease should it become established in the lungs, gain access to the bloodstream, or disseminate to vital organs including the central nervous system. Spn is encapsulated, allowing it to avoid phagocytosis, and current preventative measures against infection include polyvalent vaccines composed of capsular polysaccharide corresponding to its most prevalent serotypes. The pneumococcus also has a plethora of surface components that allow the bacteria to adhere to host cells, facilitate the evasion of the immune system, and obtain vital nutrients; one family of these are the choline-binding proteins (CBPs). Pneumococcal surface protein A (PspA) is one of the most abundant CBPs and confers protection against the host by inhibiting recognition by C-reactive protein and neutralizing the antimicrobial peptide lactoferricin. Recently our group has identified two new roles for PspA: binding to dying host cells via host-cell bound glyceraldehyde 3-phosphate dehydrogenase and co-opting of host lactate dehydrogenase to enhance lactate availability. These properties have been shown to influence Spn localization and enhance virulence in the lower airway, respectively. Herein, we review the impact of CBPs, and in particular PspA, on pneumococcal pathogenesis. We discuss the potential and limitations of using PspA as a conserved vaccine antigen in a conjugate vaccine formulation. PspA is a vital component of the pneumococcal virulence arsenal - therefore, understanding the molecular aspects of this protein is essential in understanding pneumococcal pathogenesis and utilizing PspA as a target for treating or preventing pneumococcal pneumonia.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | | | - Carlos J. Orihuela
- Department of Microbiology, The University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL, United States
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9
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Gingerich AD, Mousa JJ. Diverse Mechanisms of Protective Anti-Pneumococcal Antibodies. Front Cell Infect Microbiol 2022; 12:824788. [PMID: 35155281 PMCID: PMC8834882 DOI: 10.3389/fcimb.2022.824788] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/29/2021] [Accepted: 01/11/2022] [Indexed: 02/05/2023] Open
Abstract
The gram-positive bacterium Streptococcus pneumoniae is a leading cause of pneumonia, otitis media, septicemia, and meningitis in children and adults. Current prevention and treatment efforts are primarily pneumococcal conjugate vaccines that target the bacterial capsule polysaccharide, as well as antibiotics for pathogen clearance. While these methods have been enormously effective at disease prevention and treatment, there has been an emergence of non-vaccine serotypes, termed serotype replacement, and increasing antibiotic resistance among these serotypes. To combat S. pneumoniae, the immune system must deploy an arsenal of antimicrobial functions. However, S. pneumoniae has evolved a repertoire of evasion techniques and is able to modulate the host immune system. Antibodies are a key component of pneumococcal immunity, targeting both the capsule polysaccharide and protein antigens on the surface of the bacterium. These antibodies have been shown to play a variety of roles including increasing opsonophagocytic activity, enzymatic and toxin neutralization, reducing bacterial adherence, and altering bacterial gene expression. In this review, we describe targets of anti-pneumococcal antibodies and describe antibody functions and effectiveness against S. pneumoniae.
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Affiliation(s)
- Aaron D. Gingerich
- Center for Vaccines and Immunology, College of Veterinary Medicine, University of Georgia, Athens, GA, United States
| | - Jarrod J. Mousa
- Center for Vaccines and Immunology, College of Veterinary Medicine, University of Georgia, Athens, GA, United States
- Department of Infectious Diseases, College of Veterinary Medicine, University of Georgia, Athens, GA, United States
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Franklin College of Arts and Sciences, University of Georgia, Athens, GA, United States
- *Correspondence: Jarrod J. Mousa,
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10
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Martinovich KM, Rahman T, de Gier C, Seppanen EJ, Orami T, Granland CM, Francis J, Yoannes M, Corscadden KJ, Ford R, Jacoby P, van den Biggelaar AHJ, Bakaletz LO, Cripps AW, Lehmann D, Richmond PC, Pomat WS, Kirkham LAS, Thornton RB. Differences in Pneumococcal and Haemophilus influenzae Natural Antibody Development in Papua New Guinean Children in the First Year of Life. Front Immunol 2021; 12:725244. [PMID: 34447389 PMCID: PMC8383109 DOI: 10.3389/fimmu.2021.725244] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/15/2021] [Accepted: 07/27/2021] [Indexed: 11/21/2022] Open
Abstract
Background Development of vaccines to prevent disease and death from Streptococcus pneumoniae, and nontypeable Haemophilus influenzae (NTHi), the main pathogens that cause otitis media, pneumonia, meningitis and sepsis, are a global priority. Children living in low and lower-middle income settings are at the highest risk of contracting and dying from these diseases. Improved vaccines with broader coverage are required. Data on the natural development of antibodies to putative vaccine antigens, especially in high-risk settings, can inform the rational selection of the best antigens for vaccine development. Methods Serum IgG titres to four pneumococcal proteins (PspA1, PspA2, CbpA, and Ply) and five NTHi antigens (P4, P6, OMP26, rsPilA and ChimV4) were measured in sera collected from 101 Papua New Guinean children at 1, 4, 9, 10, 23 and 24 months of age using multiplexed bead-based immunoassays. Carriage density of S. pneumoniae and H. influenzae were assessed by quantitative PCR on genomic DNA extracted from nasopharyngeal swabs using species-specific primers and probes. All data were log-transformed for analysis using Student’s unpaired t-tests with geometric mean titre (GMT) or density (GMD) calculated with 95% confidence intervals (CI). Results Serum -pneumococcal protein-specific IgG titres followed a “U” shaped pattern, with a decrease in presumably maternally-derived IgG titres between 1 and 4 months of age and returning to similar levels as those measured at 1 month of age by 24 months of age. In contrast, NTHi protein-specific IgG titres steadily increased with age. There was no correlation between antibody titres and carriage density for either pathogen. Conclusion This longitudinal study indicates that the waning of maternally- derived antibodies that is usually observed in infants, after infants does not occur for NTHi antigens in Papua New Guinean infants. Whether NTHi antigen IgG can be transferred maternally remains to be determined. Vaccines that are designed to specifically increase the presence of protective NTHi antibodies in the first few months of life may be most effective in reducing NTHi disease. Clinical Trial Registration https://clinicaltrials.gov/, identifier NCT01619462.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kelly M Martinovich
- Wesfarmers Centre of Vaccines and Infectious Diseases, Telethon Kids Institute, Perth, WA, Australia
| | - Tasmina Rahman
- Wesfarmers Centre of Vaccines and Infectious Diseases, Telethon Kids Institute, Perth, WA, Australia.,Division of Paediatrics, University of Western Australia, Perth, WA, Australia
| | - Camilla de Gier
- Wesfarmers Centre of Vaccines and Infectious Diseases, Telethon Kids Institute, Perth, WA, Australia.,Division of Paediatrics, University of Western Australia, Perth, WA, Australia
| | - Elke J Seppanen
- Wesfarmers Centre of Vaccines and Infectious Diseases, Telethon Kids Institute, Perth, WA, Australia
| | - Tilda Orami
- Papua New Guinea Institute of Medical Research, Goroka, Papua New Guinea
| | - Caitlyn M Granland
- Wesfarmers Centre of Vaccines and Infectious Diseases, Telethon Kids Institute, Perth, WA, Australia
| | - Jacinta Francis
- Papua New Guinea Institute of Medical Research, Goroka, Papua New Guinea
| | - Mition Yoannes
- Papua New Guinea Institute of Medical Research, Goroka, Papua New Guinea
| | - Karli J Corscadden
- Wesfarmers Centre of Vaccines and Infectious Diseases, Telethon Kids Institute, Perth, WA, Australia
| | - Rebecca Ford
- Papua New Guinea Institute of Medical Research, Goroka, Papua New Guinea
| | - Peter Jacoby
- Wesfarmers Centre of Vaccines and Infectious Diseases, Telethon Kids Institute, Perth, WA, Australia
| | - Anita H J van den Biggelaar
- Wesfarmers Centre of Vaccines and Infectious Diseases, Telethon Kids Institute, Perth, WA, Australia.,Centre for Child Health Research, University of Western Australia, Perth, WA, Australia
| | - Lauren O Bakaletz
- Center for Microbial Pathogenesis, Abigail Wexner Research Institute at Nationwide Children's Hospital, The Ohio State University College of Medicine, Columbus, OH, United States
| | - Allan W Cripps
- School of Medicine and Menzies Health Institute Queensland, Griffith University, Southport, QLD, Australia
| | - Deborah Lehmann
- Wesfarmers Centre of Vaccines and Infectious Diseases, Telethon Kids Institute, Perth, WA, Australia.,Centre for Child Health Research, University of Western Australia, Perth, WA, Australia
| | - Peter C Richmond
- Wesfarmers Centre of Vaccines and Infectious Diseases, Telethon Kids Institute, Perth, WA, Australia.,Division of Paediatrics, University of Western Australia, Perth, WA, Australia
| | - William S Pomat
- Wesfarmers Centre of Vaccines and Infectious Diseases, Telethon Kids Institute, Perth, WA, Australia.,Papua New Guinea Institute of Medical Research, Goroka, Papua New Guinea
| | - Lea-Ann S Kirkham
- Wesfarmers Centre of Vaccines and Infectious Diseases, Telethon Kids Institute, Perth, WA, Australia.,Centre for Child Health Research, University of Western Australia, Perth, WA, Australia
| | - Ruth B Thornton
- Wesfarmers Centre of Vaccines and Infectious Diseases, Telethon Kids Institute, Perth, WA, Australia.,Centre for Child Health Research, University of Western Australia, Perth, WA, Australia
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11
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Chen T, Wang C, Hu L, Lu H, Song F, Zhang A, Wang X, Chen H, Tan C. Evaluation of the immunoprotective effects of IF-2 GTPase and SSU05-1022 as a candidate for a Streptococcus suis subunit vaccine. Future Microbiol 2021; 16:721-729. [PMID: 34223787 DOI: 10.2217/fmb-2020-0232] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/21/2022] Open
Abstract
Aim: This study aims to develop a subunit vaccine with high cross-protection for Streptococcus suis. Materials & methods: Four-week-old female BALB/c mice were first immunized with a single and mixed protein. Various indicators, such as antibody titers and various cytokine levels, were further analyzed. Results: The results showed that purified recombinant proteins IF-2 and 1022 had a good protective effect against lethal doses of S. suis serotype 2 and S. suis serotype 9. This study showed immunization with recombinant proteins. Conclusion: IF-2 and 1022 can enhance cross-protection against S. suis serotypes 2 and 9.
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Affiliation(s)
- Tumei Chen
- State Key Laboratory of Agricultural Microbiology, College of Veterinary Medicine, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan, Hubei, 430070, China
| | - Chenchen Wang
- State Key Laboratory of Agricultural Microbiology, College of Veterinary Medicine, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan, Hubei, 430070, China
| | - Linlin Hu
- State Key Laboratory of Agricultural Microbiology, College of Veterinary Medicine, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan, Hubei, 430070, China
| | - Hao Lu
- State Key Laboratory of Agricultural Microbiology, College of Veterinary Medicine, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan, Hubei, 430070, China
| | - Fangyu Song
- State Key Laboratory of Agricultural Microbiology, College of Veterinary Medicine, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan, Hubei, 430070, China
| | - Anding Zhang
- State Key Laboratory of Agricultural Microbiology, College of Veterinary Medicine, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan, Hubei, 430070, China.,Key Laboratory of Preventive Veterinary Medicine in Hubei Province, The Cooperative Innovation Center for Sustainable Pig Production, Wuhan, Hubei, 430070, China.,Key Laboratory of Development of Veterinary Diagnostic Products, Ministry of Agriculture of The People's Republic of China, Wuhan, Hubei, 430070, China.,International Research Center for Animal Disease, Ministry of Science & Technology of The People's Republic of China, Wuhan, Hubei, 430070, China
| | - Xiangru Wang
- State Key Laboratory of Agricultural Microbiology, College of Veterinary Medicine, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan, Hubei, 430070, China.,Key Laboratory of Preventive Veterinary Medicine in Hubei Province, The Cooperative Innovation Center for Sustainable Pig Production, Wuhan, Hubei, 430070, China.,Key Laboratory of Development of Veterinary Diagnostic Products, Ministry of Agriculture of The People's Republic of China, Wuhan, Hubei, 430070, China.,International Research Center for Animal Disease, Ministry of Science & Technology of The People's Republic of China, Wuhan, Hubei, 430070, China
| | - Huanchun Chen
- State Key Laboratory of Agricultural Microbiology, College of Veterinary Medicine, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan, Hubei, 430070, China.,Key Laboratory of Preventive Veterinary Medicine in Hubei Province, The Cooperative Innovation Center for Sustainable Pig Production, Wuhan, Hubei, 430070, China.,Key Laboratory of Development of Veterinary Diagnostic Products, Ministry of Agriculture of The People's Republic of China, Wuhan, Hubei, 430070, China.,International Research Center for Animal Disease, Ministry of Science & Technology of The People's Republic of China, Wuhan, Hubei, 430070, China
| | - Chen Tan
- State Key Laboratory of Agricultural Microbiology, College of Veterinary Medicine, Huazhong Agricultural University, Wuhan, Hubei, 430070, China.,Key Laboratory of Preventive Veterinary Medicine in Hubei Province, The Cooperative Innovation Center for Sustainable Pig Production, Wuhan, Hubei, 430070, China.,Key Laboratory of Development of Veterinary Diagnostic Products, Ministry of Agriculture of The People's Republic of China, Wuhan, Hubei, 430070, China.,International Research Center for Animal Disease, Ministry of Science & Technology of The People's Republic of China, Wuhan, Hubei, 430070, China
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12
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Park SS, Gonzalez-Juarbe N, Riegler AN, Im H, Hale Y, Platt MP, Croney C, Briles DE, Orihuela CJ. Streptococcus pneumoniae binds to host GAPDH on dying lung epithelial cells worsening secondary infection following influenza. Cell Rep 2021; 35:109267. [PMID: 34133917 PMCID: PMC8265312 DOI: 10.1016/j.celrep.2021.109267] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/19/2020] [Revised: 04/07/2021] [Accepted: 05/26/2021] [Indexed: 12/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Streptococcus pneumoniae (Spn) alone and during co-infection with influenza A virus (IAV) can result in severe pneumonia with mortality. Pneumococcal surface protein A (PspA) is an established virulence factor required for Spn evasion of lactoferricin and C-reactive protein-activated complement-mediated killing. Herein, we show that PspA functions as an adhesin to dying host cells. We demonstrate that PspA binds to host-derived glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase (GAPDH) bound to outward-flipped phosphatidylserine residues on dying host cells. PspA-mediated adhesion was to apoptotic, pyroptotic, and necroptotic cells, but not healthy lung cells. Using isogenic mutants of Spn, we show that PspA-GAPDH-mediated binding to lung cells increases pneumococcal localization in the lower airway, and this is enhanced as a result of pneumolysin exposure or co-infection with IAV. PspA-mediated binding to GAPDH requires amino acids 230-281 in its α-helical domain with intratracheal inoculation of this PspA fragment alongside the bacteria reducing disease severity in an IAV/Spn pneumonia model.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sang-Sang Park
- Department of Microbiology, The University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL, USA
| | | | - Ashleigh N Riegler
- Department of Microbiology, The University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL, USA
| | - Hansol Im
- Department of Microbiology, The University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL, USA
| | - Yvette Hale
- Department of Microbiology, The University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL, USA
| | - Maryann P Platt
- Infectious Diseases and Genomic Medicine Group, J. Craig Venter Institute, Rockville, MD, USA
| | - Christina Croney
- Department of Microbiology, The University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL, USA
| | - David E Briles
- Department of Microbiology, The University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL, USA
| | - Carlos J Orihuela
- Department of Microbiology, The University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL, USA.
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13
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Scott NR, Mann B, Tuomanen EI, Orihuela CJ. Multi-Valent Protein Hybrid Pneumococcal Vaccines: A Strategy for the Next Generation of Vaccines. Vaccines (Basel) 2021; 9:209. [PMID: 33801372 PMCID: PMC8002124 DOI: 10.3390/vaccines9030209] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/27/2021] [Revised: 02/23/2021] [Accepted: 02/25/2021] [Indexed: 12/15/2022] Open
Abstract
Streptococcus pneumoniae (Spn) is a bacterial pathogen known to colonize the upper respiratory tract and cause serious opportunistic diseases such as pneumonia, bacteremia, sepsis and meningitis. As a consequence, millions of attributable deaths occur annually, especially among infants, the elderly and immunocompromised individuals. Although current vaccines, composed of purified pneumococcal polysaccharide in free form or conjugated to a protein carrier, are widely used and have been demonstrated to be effective in target groups, Spn has continued to colonize and cause life-threatening disease in susceptible populations. This lack of broad protection highlights the necessity of improving upon the current "gold standard" pneumococcal vaccines to increase protection both by decreasing colonization and reducing the incidence of sterile-site infections. Over the past century, most of the pneumococcal proteins that play an essential role in colonization and pathogenesis have been identified and characterized. Some of these proteins have the potential to serve as antigens in a multi-valent protein vaccine that confers capsule independent protection. This review seeks to summarize the benefits and limitations of the currently employed vaccine strategies, describes how leading candidate proteins contribute to pneumococcal disease development, and discusses the potential of these proteins as protective antigens-including as a hybrid construct.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ninecia R. Scott
- Department of Microbiology, School of Medicine, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL 35294, USA;
| | - Beth Mann
- Department of Infectious Diseases, St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, Memphis, TN 38105, USA; (B.M.); (E.I.T.)
| | - Elaine I. Tuomanen
- Department of Infectious Diseases, St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, Memphis, TN 38105, USA; (B.M.); (E.I.T.)
| | - Carlos J. Orihuela
- Department of Microbiology, School of Medicine, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL 35294, USA;
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14
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Pneumococcal Choline-Binding Proteins Involved in Virulence as Vaccine Candidates. Vaccines (Basel) 2021; 9:vaccines9020181. [PMID: 33672701 PMCID: PMC7924319 DOI: 10.3390/vaccines9020181] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/21/2021] [Revised: 02/15/2021] [Accepted: 02/18/2021] [Indexed: 01/25/2023] Open
Abstract
Streptococcus pneumoniae is a pathogen responsible for millions of deaths worldwide. Currently, the available vaccines for the prevention of S. pneumoniae infections are the 23-valent pneumococcal polysaccharide-based vaccine (PPV-23) and the pneumococcal conjugate vaccines (PCV10 and PCV13). These vaccines only cover some pneumococcal serotypes (up to 100 different serotypes have been identified) and are unable to protect against non-vaccine serotypes and non-encapsulated pneumococci. The emergence of antibiotic-resistant non-vaccine serotypes after these vaccines is an increasing threat. Therefore, there is an urgent need to develop new pneumococcal vaccines which could cover a wide range of serotypes. One of the vaccines most characterized as a prophylactic alternative to current PPV-23 or PCVs is a vaccine based on pneumococcal protein antigens. The choline-binding proteins (CBP) are found in all pneumococcal strains, giving them the characteristic to be potential vaccine candidates as they may protect against different serotypes. In this review, we have focused the attention on different CBPs as vaccine candidates because they are involved in the pathogenesis process, confirming their immunogenicity and protection against pneumococcal infection. The review summarizes the major contribution of these proteins to virulence and reinforces the fact that antibodies elicited against many of them may block or interfere with their role in the infection process.
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15
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Du S, Vilhena C, King S, Sahagún-Ruiz A, Hammerschmidt S, Skerka C, Zipfel PF. Molecular analyses identifies new domains and structural differences among Streptococcus pneumoniae immune evasion proteins PspC and Hic. Sci Rep 2021; 11:1701. [PMID: 33462258 PMCID: PMC7814132 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-020-79362-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/14/2020] [Accepted: 12/07/2020] [Indexed: 12/13/2022] Open
Abstract
The PspC and Hic proteins of Streptococcuspneumoniae are some of the most variable microbial immune evasion proteins identified to date. Due to structural similarities and conserved binding profiles, it was assumed for a long time that these pneumococcal surface proteins represent a protein family comprised of eleven subgroups. Recently, however, the evaluation of more proteins revealed a greater diversity of individual proteins. In contrast to previous assumptions a pattern evaluation of six PspC and five Hic variants, each representing one of the previously defined subgroups, revealed distinct structural and likely functionally regions of the proteins, and identified nine new domains and new domain alternates. Several domains are unique to PspC and Hic variants, while other domains are also present in other virulence factors encoded by pneumococci and other bacterial pathogens. This knowledge improved pattern evaluation at the level of full-length proteins, allowed a sequence comparison at the domain level and identified domains with a modular composition. This novel strategy increased understanding of individual proteins variability and modular domain composition, enabled a structural and functional characterization at the domain level and furthermore revealed substantial structural differences between PspC and Hic proteins. Given the exceptional genomic diversity of the multifunctional PspC and Hic proteins a detailed structural and functional evaluation need to be performed at the strain level. Such knowledge will also be useful for molecular strain typing and characterizing PspC and Hic proteins from new clinical S. pneumoniae strains.
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Affiliation(s)
- Shanshan Du
- Department of Infection Biology, Leibniz Institute for Natural Product Research and Infection Biology, Jena, Germany
| | - Cláudia Vilhena
- Department of Infection Biology, Leibniz Institute for Natural Product Research and Infection Biology, Jena, Germany
| | - Samantha King
- Center for Microbial Pathogenesis, Abigail Wexner Research Institute at Nationwide Children's Hospital, Columbus, OH, USA.,Department of Pediatrics, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, USA
| | - Alfredo Sahagún-Ruiz
- Department of Infection Biology, Leibniz Institute for Natural Product Research and Infection Biology, Jena, Germany.,Molecular Immunology Laboratory, Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine and Animal Husbandry, National Autonomous University of Mexico, Mexico City, Mexico
| | - Sven Hammerschmidt
- Department of Molecular Genetics and Infection Biology, Interfaculty Institute for Genetics and Functional Genomics, Center for Functional Genomics of Microbes, University of Greifswald, Greifswald, Germany
| | - Christine Skerka
- Department of Infection Biology, Leibniz Institute for Natural Product Research and Infection Biology, Jena, Germany
| | - Peter F Zipfel
- Department of Infection Biology, Leibniz Institute for Natural Product Research and Infection Biology, Jena, Germany. .,Institute of Microbiology, Friedrich-Schiller-University, Jena, Germany.
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16
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Munia M, Mahmud S, Mohasin M, Kibria KK. In silico design of an epitope-based vaccine against choline binding protein A of Streptococcus pneumoniae. INFORMATICS IN MEDICINE UNLOCKED 2021. [DOI: 10.1016/j.imu.2021.100546] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/08/2023] Open
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17
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Yamaguchi M, Takemura M, Higashi K, Goto K, Hirose Y, Sumitomo T, Nakata M, Uzawa N, Kawabata S. Role of BgaA as a Pneumococcal Virulence Factor Elucidated by Molecular Evolutionary Analysis. Front Microbiol 2020; 11:582437. [PMID: 33072054 PMCID: PMC7541833 DOI: 10.3389/fmicb.2020.582437] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/12/2020] [Accepted: 09/01/2020] [Indexed: 01/17/2023] Open
Abstract
Streptococcus pneumoniae is a major cause of pneumonia, sepsis, and meningitis. Previously, we identified a novel virulence factor by investigating evolutionary selective pressure exerted on pneumococcal choline-binding cell surface proteins. Herein, we focus on another pneumococcal cell surface protein. Cell wall-anchoring proteins containing the LPXTG motif are conserved in Gram-positive bacteria. Our evolutionary analysis showed that among the examined genes, nanA and bgaA had high proportions of codon that were under significant negative selection. Both nanA and bgaA encode a multi-functional glycosidase that aids nutrient acquisition in a glucose-poor environment, pneumococcal adherence to host cells, and evasion from host immunity. However, several studies have shown that the role of BgaA is limited in a mouse pneumonia model, and it remains unclear if BgaA affects pneumococcal pathogenesis in a mouse sepsis model. To evaluate the distribution and pathogenicity of bgaA, we performed phylogenetic analysis and intravenous infection assay. In both Bayesian and maximum likelihood phylogenetic trees, the genetic distances between pneumococcal bgaA was small, and the cluster of pneumococcal bgaA did not contain other bacterial orthologs except for a Streptococcus gwangjuense gene. Evolutionary analysis and BgaA structure indicated BgaA active site was not allowed to change. The mouse infection assay showed that the deletion of bgaA significantly reduced host mortality. These results indicated that both nanA and bgaA encode evolutionally conserved pneumococcal virulence factors and that molecular evolutionary analysis could be a useful alternative strategy for identification of virulence factors.
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Affiliation(s)
- Masaya Yamaguchi
- Department of Oral and Molecular Microbiology, Osaka University Graduate School of Dentistry, Suita, Japan
| | - Moe Takemura
- Department of Oral and Molecular Microbiology, Osaka University Graduate School of Dentistry, Suita, Japan.,Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery II, Osaka University Graduate School of Dentistry, Suita, Japan
| | - Kotaro Higashi
- Department of Oral and Molecular Microbiology, Osaka University Graduate School of Dentistry, Suita, Japan
| | - Kana Goto
- Department of Oral and Molecular Microbiology, Osaka University Graduate School of Dentistry, Suita, Japan
| | - Yujiro Hirose
- Department of Oral and Molecular Microbiology, Osaka University Graduate School of Dentistry, Suita, Japan
| | - Tomoko Sumitomo
- Department of Oral and Molecular Microbiology, Osaka University Graduate School of Dentistry, Suita, Japan
| | - Masanobu Nakata
- Department of Oral and Molecular Microbiology, Osaka University Graduate School of Dentistry, Suita, Japan
| | - Narikazu Uzawa
- Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery II, Osaka University Graduate School of Dentistry, Suita, Japan
| | - Shigetada Kawabata
- Department of Oral and Molecular Microbiology, Osaka University Graduate School of Dentistry, Suita, Japan
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18
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Nishimoto AT, Rosch JW, Tuomanen EI. Pneumolysin: Pathogenesis and Therapeutic Target. Front Microbiol 2020; 11:1543. [PMID: 32714314 PMCID: PMC7343714 DOI: 10.3389/fmicb.2020.01543] [Citation(s) in RCA: 51] [Impact Index Per Article: 12.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/14/2020] [Accepted: 06/15/2020] [Indexed: 01/08/2023] Open
Abstract
Streptococcus pneumoniae is an opportunistic pathogen responsible for widespread illness and is a major global health issue for children, the elderly, and the immunocompromised population. Pneumolysin (PLY) is a cholesterol-dependent cytolysin (CDC) and key pneumococcal virulence factor involved in all phases of pneumococcal disease, including transmission, colonization, and infection. In this review we cover the biology and cytolytic function of PLY, its contribution to S. pneumoniae pathogenesis, and its known interactions and effects on the host with regard to tissue damage and immune response. Additionally, we review statins as a therapeutic option for CDC toxicity and PLY toxoid as a vaccine candidate in protein-based vaccines.
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Affiliation(s)
- Andrew T Nishimoto
- Department of Infectious Disease, St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, Memphis, TN, United States
| | - Jason W Rosch
- Department of Infectious Disease, St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, Memphis, TN, United States
| | - Elaine I Tuomanen
- Department of Infectious Disease, St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, Memphis, TN, United States
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19
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Converso TR, Assoni L, André GO, Darrieux M, Leite LCC. The long search for a serotype independent pneumococcal vaccine. Expert Rev Vaccines 2020; 19:57-70. [PMID: 31903805 DOI: 10.1080/14760584.2020.1711055] [Citation(s) in RCA: 28] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/18/2022]
Abstract
Introduction: Serotype replacement - a consequence of polysaccharide vaccine use - will continue to drive the inclusion of new serotypes on conjugate vaccines, increasing production complexity and costs, and making an already expensive vaccine less accessible to developing countries, where prevalence is higher and resources available for health systems, scarcer. Serotype-independent formulations are a promising option, but so far they have not been successful in reducing colonization/transmission.Areas covered: Protein-based and whole-cell vaccine candidates studied in the past 30 years. Challenges for serotype-independent vaccine development and alternative approaches.Expert opinion: Clinical trials performed so far demonstrated the importance to establish more reliable animal models and better correlates of protection. Defining appropriate endpoints for clinical trials of serotype-independent vaccine candidates has been a challenge. Inhibition of colonization has been evaluated, but concern on the extent of bacterial elimination is still a matter of debate. Challenges on establishing representative sites for clinical trials, sample sizes and appropriate age groups are discussed. On a whole, although many challenges will have to be overcome, establishing protein-based antigens as serotype-independent vaccines is still the best alternative against the huge burden of pneumococcal diseases in the world.
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Affiliation(s)
- T R Converso
- Laboratório de Biologia Molecular de Microrganismos, Universidade São Francisco, Bragança Paulista, Brazil
| | - L Assoni
- Laboratório de Biologia Molecular de Microrganismos, Universidade São Francisco, Bragança Paulista, Brazil
| | - G O André
- Laboratório de Biologia Molecular de Microrganismos, Universidade São Francisco, Bragança Paulista, Brazil
| | - M Darrieux
- Laboratório de Biologia Molecular de Microrganismos, Universidade São Francisco, Bragança Paulista, Brazil
| | - L C C Leite
- Laboratório de Desenvolvimento de Vacinas, Instituto Butantan, São Paulo, SP, Brazil
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20
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Briles DE, Paton JC, Mukerji R, Swiatlo E, Crain MJ. Pneumococcal Vaccines. Microbiol Spectr 2019; 7:10.1128/microbiolspec.gpp3-0028-2018. [PMID: 31858954 PMCID: PMC10921951 DOI: 10.1128/microbiolspec.gpp3-0028-2018] [Citation(s) in RCA: 42] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/03/2018] [Indexed: 01/14/2023] Open
Abstract
Streptococcus pneumoniae is a Gram-Positive pathogen that is a major causative agent of pneumonia, otitis media, sepsis and meningitis across the world. The World Health Organization estimates that globally over 500,000 children are killed each year by this pathogen. Vaccines offer the best protection against S. pneumoniae infections. The current polysaccharide conjugate vaccines have been very effective in reducing rates of invasive pneumococcal disease caused by vaccine type strains. However, the effectiveness of these vaccines have been somewhat diminished by the increasing numbers of cases of invasive disease caused by non-vaccine type strains, a phenomenon known as serotype replacement. Since, there are currently at least 98 known serotypes of S. pneumoniae, it may become cumbersome and expensive to add many additional serotypes to the current 13-valent vaccine, to circumvent the effect of serotype replacement. Hence, alternative serotype independent strategies, such as vaccination with highly cross-reactive pneumococcal protein antigens, should continue to be investigated to address this problem. This chapter provides a comprehensive discussion of pneumococcal vaccines past and present, protein antigens that are currently under investigation as vaccine candidates, and other alternatives, such as the pneumococcal whole cell vaccine, that may be successful in reducing current rates of disease caused by S. pneumoniae.
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Affiliation(s)
- D E Briles
- Department of Microbiology, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, Alabama
| | - J C Paton
- Research Centre for Infectious Diseases, Department of Molecular and Biomedical Science, University of Adelaide, Adelaide, 5005, Australia
| | - R Mukerji
- Department of Microbiology, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, Alabama
| | - E Swiatlo
- Section of Infectious Diseases, Southeast Louisiana Veterans Health Care System, New Orleans, LA
| | - M J Crain
- Department of Pediatrics and Microbiology, University of Alabama at Birmingham
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21
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Opening the OPK Assay Gatekeeper: Harnessing Multi-Modal Protection by Pneumococcal Vaccines. Pathogens 2019; 8:pathogens8040203. [PMID: 31652741 PMCID: PMC6963391 DOI: 10.3390/pathogens8040203] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/03/2019] [Revised: 10/14/2019] [Accepted: 10/21/2019] [Indexed: 11/16/2022] Open
Abstract
Pneumococcal vaccine development is driven by the achievement of high activity in a single gatekeeper assay: the bacterial opsonophagocytic killing (OPK) assay. New evidence challenges the dogma that anti-capsular antibodies have only a single function that predicts success. The emerging concept of multi-modal protection presents an array of questions that are fundamental to adopting a new vaccine design process. If antibodies have hidden non-opsonic functions that are protective, should these be optimized for better vaccines? What would protein antigens add to protective activity? Are cellular immune functions additive to antibodies for success? Do different organs benefit from different modes of protection? Can vaccine activities beyond OPK protect the immunocompromised host? This commentary raises these issues at a time when capsule-only OPK assay-based vaccines are increasingly seen as a limiting strategy.
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22
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A Cross-Reactive Protein Vaccine Combined with PCV-13 Prevents Streptococcus pneumoniae- and Haemophilus influenzae-Mediated Acute Otitis Media. Infect Immun 2019; 87:IAI.00253-19. [PMID: 31308088 DOI: 10.1128/iai.00253-19] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/03/2019] [Accepted: 07/11/2019] [Indexed: 11/20/2022] Open
Abstract
Acute otitis media is one of the most common childhood infections worldwide. Currently licensed vaccines against the common otopathogen Streptococcus pneumoniae target the bacterial capsular polysaccharide and confer no protection against nonencapsulated strains or capsular types outside vaccine coverage. Mucosal infections such as acute otitis media remain prevalent, even those caused by vaccine-covered serotypes. Here, we report that a protein-based vaccine, a fusion construct of epitopes of CbpA to pneumolysin toxoid, confers effective protection against pneumococcal acute otitis media for non-PCV-13 serotypes and enhances protection for PCV-13 serotypes when coadministered with PCV-13. Having cross-reactive epitopes, the fusion protein also induces potent antibody responses against nontypeable Haemophilus influenzae and S. pneumoniae, engendering protection against acute otitis media caused by emerging unencapsulated otopathogens. These data suggest that augmenting capsule-based vaccination with conserved, cross-reactive protein-based vaccines broadens and enhances protection against acute otitis media.
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23
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Dorosti H, Eslami M, Nezafat N, Fadaei F, Ghasemi Y. Designing self-assembled peptide nanovaccine against Streptococcus pneumoniae: An in silico strategy. Mol Cell Probes 2019; 48:101446. [PMID: 31520715 PMCID: PMC7126903 DOI: 10.1016/j.mcp.2019.101446] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/10/2019] [Revised: 09/06/2019] [Accepted: 09/10/2019] [Indexed: 01/15/2023]
Abstract
Streptococcus pneumoniae is the main cause of diseases such as meningitis, pneumoniae and sepsis, especially in children and old people. Due to costly antibiotic treatment, and increasing resistance of pneumococcus, developing high-efficient protective vaccine against this pathogen is an urgent need. Although the pneumoniae polysaccharide vaccine (PPV) and pneumonia conjugate vaccines (PCV) are the efficient pneumococcal vaccine in children and adult groups, but the serotype replacement of S. pneumoniae strains causes the reduction in efficacy of such vaccines. For overcoming the aforesaid drawbacks epitope-based vaccines are introduced as the relevant alternative. In our previous research, the epitope vaccine was designed based on immunodominant epitopes from PspA, CbpA antigens as cellular stimulants and PhtD, PiuA as humoral stimulants. Because the low immunogenicity is the main disadvantage of epitope vaccine, in the current study, we applied coiled-coil self-assembled structures for developing our vaccine. Recently, self-assembled peptide nanoparticles (SAPNs) have gained much attention in the field of vaccine development due to their multivalency, self-adjuvanticity, biocompatibility, and size similarity to pathogen. In this regard, the final designed vaccine is comprised of cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTL) epitopes from PspA and CbpA, helper T lymphocytes (HTL) epitopes from PhtD and PiuA, the pentamer and trimmer oligomeric domains form 5-stranded and 3-stranded coiled-coils as self-assembled scaffold, Diphtheria toxoids (DTD) as a universal T-helper, which fused to each other with appropriate linkers. The four different arrangements based on the order of above-mentioned compartments were constructed, and each of them were modeled, and validated to find the 3D structure. The structural, physicochemical, and immunoinformatics analyses of final vaccine construct represented that our vaccine could stimulate potent immune response against S. pneumoniae; however, the potency of that should be approved via various in vivo and in vitro immunological tests. Stimulating cellular and especially humoral immunities are essential for protection against Streptococcus Pneumoniae. Immunodominant epitopes were selected from highly protective antigens of S. pneumoniae: PspA, CbpA, PiuA, PhtD. In order to bypass the low immunogenicity of epitope-based peptide vaccine the self-assembled motifs, coiled-coil structure, was applied as the vaccine scaffold. The structural, physicochemical, and immunoinformatics results indicate that the designed vaccine can incite strong immune response against S. pneumoniae.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hesam Dorosti
- Pharmaceutical Sciences Research Center, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran; Department of Pharmaceutical Biotechnology, School of Pharmacy, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran
| | - Mahboobeh Eslami
- Pharmaceutical Sciences Research Center, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran
| | - Navid Nezafat
- Pharmaceutical Sciences Research Center, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran; Department of Pharmaceutical Biotechnology, School of Pharmacy, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran.
| | - Fardin Fadaei
- Pharmaceutical Sciences Research Center, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran; Department of Pharmaceutical Biotechnology, School of Pharmacy, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran
| | - Younes Ghasemi
- Pharmaceutical Sciences Research Center, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran; Department of Pharmaceutical Biotechnology, School of Pharmacy, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran.
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24
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Lagousi T, Basdeki P, Routsias J, Spoulou V. Novel Protein-Based Pneumococcal Vaccines: Assessing the Use of Distinct Protein Fragments Instead of Full-Length Proteins as Vaccine Antigens. Vaccines (Basel) 2019; 7:vaccines7010009. [PMID: 30669439 PMCID: PMC6466302 DOI: 10.3390/vaccines7010009] [Citation(s) in RCA: 40] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/30/2018] [Revised: 01/15/2019] [Accepted: 01/16/2019] [Indexed: 12/20/2022] Open
Abstract
Non-serotype-specific protein-based pneumococcal vaccines have received extensive research focus due to the limitations of polysaccharide-based vaccines. Pneumococcal proteins (PnPs), universally expressed among serotypes, may induce broader immune responses, stimulating humoral and cellular immunity, while being easier to manufacture and less expensive. Such an approach has raised issues mainly associated with sequence/level of expression variability, chemical instability, as well as possible undesirable reactogenicity and autoimmune properties. A step forward employs the identification of highly-conserved antigenic regions within PnPs with the potential to retain the benefits of protein antigens. Besides, their low-cost and stable construction facilitates the combination of several antigenic regions or peptides that may impair different stages of pneumococcal disease offering even wider serotype coverage and more efficient protection. This review discusses the up-to-date progress on PnPs that are currently under clinical evaluation and the challenges for their licensure. Focus is given on the progress on the identification of antigenic regions/peptides within PnPs and their evaluation as vaccine candidates, accessing their potential to overcome the issues associated with full-length protein antigens. Particular mention is given of the use of newer delivery system technologies including conjugation to Toll-like receptors (TLRs) and reformulation into nanoparticles to enhance the poor immunogenicity of such antigens.
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Affiliation(s)
- Theano Lagousi
- First Department of Paediatrics, "Aghia Sophia" Children's Hospital, Immunobiology Research Laboratory and Infectious Diseases Department "MAKKA," Athens Medical School, 11527 Athens, Greece.
| | - Paraskevi Basdeki
- First Department of Paediatrics, "Aghia Sophia" Children's Hospital, Immunobiology Research Laboratory and Infectious Diseases Department "MAKKA," Athens Medical School, 11527 Athens, Greece.
| | - John Routsias
- Department of Microbiology, Athens Medical School, 11527 Athens, Greece.
| | - Vana Spoulou
- First Department of Paediatrics, "Aghia Sophia" Children's Hospital, Immunobiology Research Laboratory and Infectious Diseases Department "MAKKA," Athens Medical School, 11527 Athens, Greece.
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25
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Protasova IN, Wan TW, Bakhareva NV, Hung WC, Higuchi W, Iwao Y, Yelistratova TA, Ilyenkova NA, Sokolovskaya YS, Martynova GP, Reva IV, Reva GV, Sidorenko SV, Teng LJ, Peryanova OV, Salmina AB, Yamamoto T. Molecular characterization of Streptococcus pneumoniae, particularly serotype19A/ST320, which emerged in Krasnoyarsk, Russia. Microbiol Immunol 2018; 61:359-370. [PMID: 28736993 PMCID: PMC5639370 DOI: 10.1111/1348-0421.12503] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/04/2017] [Revised: 06/30/2017] [Accepted: 07/17/2017] [Indexed: 12/18/2022]
Abstract
Streptococcus pneumoniae, a common human pathogen, colonizes the nasopharynx and causes diseases including acute otitis media (AOM). Herein, pneumococcal serotype distributions in children before and after PCV7 vaccination and in patients with pneumococcal disease in Siberian Russia (Krasnoyarsk) are reported. Analyses included antimicrobial susceptibility testing, sequence typing (ST), pulsed field gel electrophoresis, virulence‐related surface protein gene (VSG) typing with novel primers and structural analysis by scanning electron microscopy. In healthy children (HC) prior to administration of PCV7, drug‐susceptible serotype23F/ST1500 was a major pneumococcal genotype. In the PCV7 trial, multidrug‐resistant serotype19A/ST320 emerged in vaccinees after PCV7, exhibiting a PCV7‐induced serotype replacement. Multidrug‐resistant serotype19A/ST320 was evident in patients with AOM. Community‐acquired pneumonia (CAP) isolates showed genetic similarities to the AOM (ST320) genotype, constituting a common non‐invasive AOM–CAP group. In contrast, meningitis isolates were more divergent. Overall, 25 ST types were identified; five (20%) of which were Krasnoyarsk‐native. Regarding VSGs, PI‐1 (rlrA/rrgB), PI‐2 (pitA/B), psrP and cbpA were present at 54.3%, 38.6%, 48.6%, and 95.7%, respectively, with two major VSG content types, PI‐1−/PI‐2−/psrP+/cbpA+ and PI‐1+/PI‐2+/psrP‐/cbpA+, being found for HC and non‐invasive diseases, respectively. A major clone of serotype19A/ST320 (PI‐1+/PI‐2+) produced the longest pneumococcal wire (pilus) structures in colonies. ST1016 (PI‐1−/PI‐2−) in HC had HEp‐2 cell‐adherent pili. These results suggest that serotype19A/ST320 and related genotypes, with the VSG content type PI‐1+/PI‐2+/psrP−/cbpA+, emerged in vaccinees after PCV7 in Siberia, accompanying diseases in non‐vaccinated children, and that some genotypes (serotypes19A/ST320 and 18/ST1016) produced novel pneumococcal structures, predicting their roles in colony formation and adherence.
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Affiliation(s)
- Irina N Protasova
- Russia-Japan Center of Microbiology, Metagenomics and Infectious Diseases, Krasnoyarsk, Russia.,Department of Microbiology Krasnoyarsk State Medical University, Krasnoyarsk, Russia.,Department of Epidemiology, Genomics, and Evolution, International Medical Education and Research, Center Niigata, Japan
| | - Tsai-Wen Wan
- Department of Epidemiology, Genomics, and Evolution, International Medical Education and Research, Center Niigata, Japan.,Department of Clinical Laboratory Sciences and Medical Biotechnology, National Taiwan University College of Medicine, Taipei, Taiwan
| | | | - Wei-Chun Hung
- Department of Epidemiology, Genomics, and Evolution, International Medical Education and Research, Center Niigata, Japan.,Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Kaohsiung Medical University, Kaohsiung, Taiwan
| | - Wataru Higuchi
- Division of Bacteriology, Department of Infectious Disease Control and International Medicine, Niigata University Graduate School of Medical and Dental Sciences, Niigata, Japan
| | - Yasuhisa Iwao
- Department of Epidemiology, Genomics, and Evolution, International Medical Education and Research, Center Niigata, Japan
| | | | | | | | - Galina P Martynova
- Department of Children Infectious Diseases, Krasnoyarsk State Medical University, Krasnoyarsk, Russia
| | - Ivan V Reva
- Department of Epidemiology, Genomics, and Evolution, International Medical Education and Research, Center Niigata, Japan.,Department of Clinical and Fundamental Medicine, Far Eastern Federal University School of Biomedicine, Vladivostok, Russia
| | - Galina V Reva
- Department of Clinical and Fundamental Medicine, Far Eastern Federal University School of Biomedicine, Vladivostok, Russia
| | - Sergey V Sidorenko
- Research Institute of Children Infections of Federal State Medical and Biological Agency of Russia, Saint Petersburg
| | - Lee-Jene Teng
- Department of Clinical Laboratory Sciences and Medical Biotechnology, National Taiwan University College of Medicine, Taipei, Taiwan
| | - Olga V Peryanova
- Russia-Japan Center of Microbiology, Metagenomics and Infectious Diseases, Krasnoyarsk, Russia.,Department of Microbiology Krasnoyarsk State Medical University, Krasnoyarsk, Russia
| | - Alla B Salmina
- Research Institute of Molecular Medicine and Pathobiochemistry, Krasnoyarsk State Medical University, Krasnoyarsk, Russia
| | - Tatsuo Yamamoto
- Russia-Japan Center of Microbiology, Metagenomics and Infectious Diseases, Krasnoyarsk, Russia.,Department of Epidemiology, Genomics, and Evolution, International Medical Education and Research, Center Niigata, Japan
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26
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Janapatla RP, Chen CL, Hsu MH, Liao WT, Chiu CH. Immunization with pneumococcal neuraminidases NanA, NanB and NanC to generate neutralizing antibodies and to increase survival in mice. J Med Microbiol 2018; 67:709-723. [PMID: 29557769 DOI: 10.1099/jmm.0.000724] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/25/2022] Open
Abstract
Purpose. Pneumococcal virulence protein-based vaccines can provide serotype-independent protection against pneumococcal infections. Many studies, including clinical observational studies on Thomsen-Friedenrich antigen exposure and haemolytic uremic syndrome, defined the role of neuraminidases NanA, NanB and NanC in host-pneumococcus interaction. Since neuraminidases are major virulence proteins, they are potential targets for both vaccines and small molecule inhibitors. Here we explored the utility of three neuraminidases as protein vaccine antigens to generate neutralizing antibodies and to increase survival following pneumococcal infections.Methodology. Rabbits and mice were immunized subcutaneously with enzymatically active recombinant NanA, NanB and NanC as individual or a combination of the three neuraminidases. Antisera titres were determined by ELISA. Neuraminidase activity inhibition by antiserum was tested by peanut lectin and flow cytometry. Clinical isolates with serotype 3, 6B, 14, 15B, 19A and 23F were used to infect immunized mice by tail vein injection.Results/Key findings. Presence of high levels of IgG antibodies in antisera against NanA, NanB and NanC indicates that all of the three neuraminidases are immunogenic vaccine antigens. To generate potent NanA neutralizing antibodies, both lectin and catalytic domains are essential, whereas for NanB and NanC a single lectin domain is sufficient. Immunization with triple neuraminidases increased the survival of mice when intravenously challenged with clinical isolates of serotype 3 (40 %), 6B (60 %), 15B (60 %), 19A (40 %) and 23F (30 %).Conclusion. We recommend the inclusion of three pneumococcal neuraminidases in future protein vaccine formulations to prevent invasive pneumococcal infection caused by various serotypes.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Chyi-Liang Chen
- Molecular Infectious Diseases Research Center, Chang Gung Memorial Hospital, Taoyuan, Taiwan, ROC
| | - Mei-Hua Hsu
- Molecular Infectious Diseases Research Center, Chang Gung Memorial Hospital, Taoyuan, Taiwan, ROC
| | - Wan-Ting Liao
- Molecular Infectious Diseases Research Center, Chang Gung Memorial Hospital, Taoyuan, Taiwan, ROC
| | - Cheng-Hsun Chiu
- Division of Pediatric Infectious Diseases, Department of Pediatrics, Chang Gung Children's Hospital, Chang Gung University College of Medicine, Taoyuan, Taiwan, ROC.,Molecular Infectious Diseases Research Center, Chang Gung Memorial Hospital, Taoyuan, Taiwan, ROC
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27
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Evaluation of Protective Efficacy of Selected Immunodominant B-Cell Epitopes within Virulent Surface Proteins of Streptococcus pneumoniae. Infect Immun 2018; 86:IAI.00673-17. [PMID: 29263108 DOI: 10.1128/iai.00673-17] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/18/2017] [Accepted: 12/17/2017] [Indexed: 02/07/2023] Open
Abstract
Four previously identified immunodominant B-cell epitopes, located within known virulent pneumococcal proteins CbpD, PhtD, PhtE, and ZmpB, had shown promising in vivo immunological characteristics, indicating their potential to be used as vaccine antigens. In this study, we further evaluated the opsonophagocytic activity of antibodies against these epitopes and their capacity to protect mice from pneumococcal sepsis. An opsonophagocytic killing assay (OPKA) revealed that OPKA titers of human anti-peptide antibodies against pneumococcal serotypes 1, 3, and 19A were significantly higher (P < 0.001) than those of the control sera, suggesting their functional potential against virulent clinical isolates. Data obtained from mice actively immunized with any of the selected epitope analogues or with a mixture of these (G_Mix group) showed, compared to controls, enhanced survival against the highly virulent pneumococcal serotype 3 (P < 0.001). Moreover, passive transfer of hyperimmune serum from G_Mix to naive mice also conferred protection to a lethal challenge with serotype 3, which demonstrates that the observed protection was antibody mediated. All immunized murine groups elicited gradually higher antibody titers and avidity, suggesting a maturation of immune response over time. Among the tested peptides, PhD_pep19 and PhtE_pep40 peptides, which reside within the zinc-binding domains of PhtD and PhtE proteins, exhibited superior immunological characteristics. Recently it has been shown that zinc uptake is of high importance for the virulence of Streptococcus pneumoniae; thus, our findings suggest that these epitopes deserve further evaluation as novel immunoreactive components for the development of a polysaccharide-independent pneumococcal vaccine.
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28
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Abstract
Safe and efficacious vaccines are arguably the most successful medical interventions of all time. Yet the ongoing discovery of new pathogens, along with emergence of antibiotic-resistant pathogens and a burgeoning population at risk of such infections, imposes unprecedented public health challenges. To meet these challenges, innovative strategies to discover and develop new or improved anti-infective vaccines are necessary. These approaches must intersect the most meaningful insights into protective immunity and advanced technologies with capabilities to deliver immunogens for optimal immune protection. This goal is considered through several recent advances in host-pathogen relationships, conceptual strides in vaccinology, and emerging technologies. Given a clear and growing risk of pandemic disease should the threat of infection go unmet, developing vaccines that optimize protective immunity against high-priority and antibiotic-resistant pathogens represents an urgent and unifying imperative.
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Affiliation(s)
- Michael R Yeaman
- Department of Medicine, David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, Los Angeles, California 90024.,Division of Molecular Medicine, Department of Medicine, Harbor-UCLA Medical Center, Torrance, California 90509; .,Division of Infectious Diseases, Department of Medicine, Harbor-UCLA Medical Center, Torrance, California 90509.,Los Angeles Biomedical Research Institute, Torrance, California 90502
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29
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Andrade DC, Borges IC, Ekström N, Jartti T, Puhakka T, Barral A, Kayhty H, Ruuskanen O, Nascimento-Carvalho CM. Determination of avidity of IgG against protein antigens from Streptococcus pneumoniae: assay development and preliminary application in clinical settings. Eur J Clin Microbiol Infect Dis 2017; 37:77-89. [PMID: 29027028 DOI: 10.1007/s10096-017-3103-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/20/2017] [Accepted: 09/04/2017] [Indexed: 11/27/2022]
Abstract
The measurement of antibody levels is a common test for the diagnosis of Streptococcus pneumoniae infection in research. However, the quality of antibody response, reflected by avidity, has not been adequately evaluated. We aimed to evaluate the role of avidity of IgG against eight pneumococcal proteins in etiologic diagnosis. Eight pneumococcal proteins (Ply, CbpA, PspA1 and 2, PcpA, PhtD, StkP-C, and PcsB-N) were used to develop a multiplex bead-based avidity immunoassay. The assay was tested for effects of the chaotropic agent, multiplexing, and repeatability. The developed assay was applied to paired samples from children with or without pneumococcal disease (n = 38 for each group), determined by either serology, polymerase chain reaction (PCR), or blood culture. We found a good correlation between singleplex and multiplex assays, with r ≥ 0.94.The assay was reproducible, with mean inter-assay variation ≤ 9% and intra-assay variation < 6%. Children with pneumococcal disease had lower median avidity indexes in the acute phase of disease for PspA1 and 2 (p = 0.042), PcpA (p = 0.002), PhtD (p = 0.014), and StkP-C (p < 0.001). When the use of IgG avidity as a diagnostic tool for pneumococcal infection was evaluated, the highest discriminative power was found for StkP-C, followed by PcpA (area under the curve [95% confidence interval, CI]: 0.868 [0.759-0.977] and 0.743 [0.607-879], respectively). The developed assay was robust and had no deleterious influence from multiplexing. Children with pneumococcal disease had lower median avidity against five pneumococcal proteins in the acute phase of disease compared to children without disease.
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Affiliation(s)
- D C Andrade
- Postgraduate Programme in Health Sciences, Federal University of Bahia School of Medicine, Salvador, Bahia, Brazil.
| | - I C Borges
- Postgraduate Programme in Health Sciences, Federal University of Bahia School of Medicine, Salvador, Bahia, Brazil
| | - N Ekström
- National Institute for Health and Welfare, Helsinki, Finland
| | - T Jartti
- Department of Paediatrics, University of Turku and Turku University Hospital, Turku, Finland
| | - T Puhakka
- Department of Otorhinolaryngology, University of Turku and Turku University Hospital, Turku, Finland
- Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Satakunta Central Hospital, Pori, Finland
| | - A Barral
- Pathology Department and Postgraduate Programme in Health Sciences, Federal University of Bahia School of Medicine and Centro de Pesquisa Gonçalo Muniz, Fundação Oswaldo Cruz, Salvador, Bahia, Brazil
| | - H Kayhty
- National Institute for Health and Welfare, Helsinki, Finland
| | - O Ruuskanen
- Department of Paediatrics, University of Turku and Turku University Hospital, Turku, Finland
| | - C M Nascimento-Carvalho
- Department of Pediatrics and Postgraduate Programme in Health Sciences, Federal University of Bahia School of Medicine, Salvador, Bahia, Brazil
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30
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Nordström T, Pandey M, Calcutt A, Powell J, Phillips ZN, Yeung G, Giddam AK, Shi Y, Haselhorst T, von Itzstein M, Batzloff MR, Good MF. Enhancing Vaccine Efficacy by Engineering a Complex Synthetic Peptide To Become a Super Immunogen. THE JOURNAL OF IMMUNOLOGY 2017; 199:2794-2802. [PMID: 28904125 DOI: 10.4049/jimmunol.1700836] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/12/2017] [Accepted: 08/10/2017] [Indexed: 12/16/2022]
Abstract
Peptides offer enormous promise as vaccines to prevent and protect against many infectious and noninfectious diseases. However, to date, limited vaccine efficacy has been reported and none have been licensed for human use. Innovative ways to enhance their immunogenicity are being tested, but rational sequence modification as a means to improve immune responsiveness has been neglected. Our objective was to establish a two-step generic protocol to modify defined amino acids of a helical peptide epitope to create a superior immunogen. Peptide variants of p145, a conserved helical peptide epitope from the M protein of Streptococcus pyogenes, were designed by exchanging one amino acid at a time, without altering their α-helical structure, which is required for correct antigenicity. The immunogenicities of new peptides were assessed in outbred mice. Vaccine efficacy was assessed in a skin challenge and invasive disease model. Out of 86 variants of p145, seven amino acid substitutions were selected and made the basis of the design for 18 new peptides. Of these, 13 were more immunogenic than p145; 7 induced Abs with significantly higher affinity for p145 than Abs induced by p145 itself; and 1 peptide induced more than 10,000-fold greater protection following challenge than the parent peptide. This peptide also only required a single immunization (compared with three immunizations with the parent peptide) to induce complete protection against invasive streptococcal disease. This study defines a strategy to rationally improve the immunogenicity of peptides and will have broad applicability to the development of vaccines for infectious and noninfectious diseases.
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Affiliation(s)
- Therése Nordström
- The QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute, Brisbane, Queensland 4029, Australia; and
| | - Manisha Pandey
- The QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute, Brisbane, Queensland 4029, Australia; and .,Institute for Glycomics, Griffith University, Queensland 4222, Australia
| | - Ainslie Calcutt
- Institute for Glycomics, Griffith University, Queensland 4222, Australia
| | - Jessica Powell
- Institute for Glycomics, Griffith University, Queensland 4222, Australia
| | - Zachary N Phillips
- Institute for Glycomics, Griffith University, Queensland 4222, Australia
| | - Grace Yeung
- Institute for Glycomics, Griffith University, Queensland 4222, Australia
| | - Ashwini K Giddam
- Institute for Glycomics, Griffith University, Queensland 4222, Australia
| | - Yun Shi
- Institute for Glycomics, Griffith University, Queensland 4222, Australia
| | - Thomas Haselhorst
- Institute for Glycomics, Griffith University, Queensland 4222, Australia
| | - Mark von Itzstein
- Institute for Glycomics, Griffith University, Queensland 4222, Australia
| | - Michael R Batzloff
- The QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute, Brisbane, Queensland 4029, Australia; and.,Institute for Glycomics, Griffith University, Queensland 4222, Australia
| | - Michael F Good
- The QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute, Brisbane, Queensland 4029, Australia; and .,Institute for Glycomics, Griffith University, Queensland 4222, Australia
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31
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Zafar MA, Wang Y, Hamaguchi S, Weiser JN. Host-to-Host Transmission of Streptococcus pneumoniae Is Driven by Its Inflammatory Toxin, Pneumolysin. Cell Host Microbe 2017; 21:73-83. [PMID: 28081446 DOI: 10.1016/j.chom.2016.12.005] [Citation(s) in RCA: 65] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/09/2016] [Revised: 10/28/2016] [Accepted: 12/06/2016] [Indexed: 01/05/2023]
Abstract
Host-to-host transmission is a critical step for infection. Here we studied transmission of the opportunistic pathogen Streptococcus pneumoniae in an infant mouse model. Transmission from nasally colonized pups required high levels of bacterial shedding in nasal secretions and was temporally correlated with, and dependent upon, the acute inflammatory response. Pneumolysin, a pore-forming cytotoxin and major virulence determinant, was both necessary and sufficient to promote inflammation, which increased shedding and allowed for intralitter transmission. Direct contact between pups was not required for transmission indicating the importance of an environmental reservoir. An additional in vivo effect of pneumolysin was to enhance bacterial survival outside of the host. Our findings provide experimental evidence of a microbial strategy for transit to new hosts and explain why an organism expresses a toxin that damages the host upon which it depends.
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Affiliation(s)
- M Ammar Zafar
- Department of Microbiology, New York University, New York, NY 10016, USA
| | - Yang Wang
- School of Medicine, Tsinghua University, 100084 Beijing, China; Department of Microbiology, New York University, New York, NY 10016, USA
| | - Shigeto Hamaguchi
- Department of Microbiology, New York University, New York, NY 10016, USA
| | - Jeffrey N Weiser
- Department of Microbiology, New York University, New York, NY 10016, USA.
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32
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Khan N, Jan AT. Towards Identifying Protective B-Cell Epitopes: The PspA Story. Front Microbiol 2017; 8:742. [PMID: 28512452 PMCID: PMC5411445 DOI: 10.3389/fmicb.2017.00742] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/14/2016] [Accepted: 04/10/2017] [Indexed: 01/15/2023] Open
Abstract
Pneumococcal surface protein A (PspA) is one of the most abundant cell surface protein of Streptococcus pneumoniae (S. pneumoniae). PspA variants are structurally and serologically diverse and help evade complement-mediated phagocytosis of S. pneumoniae, which is essential for its survival in the host. PspA is currently been screened for employment in the generation of more effective (serotype independent) vaccine to overcome the limitations of polysaccharide based vaccines, providing serotype specific immune responses. The cross-protection eliciting regions of PspA localize to the α-helical and proline rich regions. Recent data indicate significant variation in the ability of antibodies induced against the recombinant PspA variants to recognize distinct S. pneumoniae strains. Hence, screening for the identification of the topographical repertoire of B-cell epitopes that elicit cross-protective immune response seems essential in the engineering of a superior PspA-based vaccine. Herein, we revisit epitope identification in PspA and the utility of hybridoma technology in directing the identification of protective epitope regions of PspA that can be used in vaccine research.
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Affiliation(s)
- Naeem Khan
- Glycobiology Group, Max Planck Institute of Colloids and Interfaces (MPG)Potsdam, Germany
| | - Arif T Jan
- Department of Medical Biotechnology, Yeungnam UniversityGyeongsan, South Korea
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33
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Thornton RB, Kirkham LAS, Corscadden KJ, Coates HL, Vijayasekaran S, Hillwood J, Toster S, Edminston P, Zhang G, Keil A, Richmond PC. No evidence for impaired humoral immunity to pneumococcal proteins in Australian Aboriginal children with otitis media. Int J Pediatr Otorhinolaryngol 2017; 92:119-125. [PMID: 28012512 DOI: 10.1016/j.ijporl.2016.11.019] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/23/2016] [Revised: 11/18/2016] [Accepted: 11/19/2016] [Indexed: 01/23/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND The Australian Aboriginal population experiences disproportionately high rates of otitis media (OM). Streptococcus pneumoniae is one of the main pathogens responsible for OM and currently no vaccine offering cross strain protection exists. Vaccines consisting of conserved antigens to S. pneumoniae may reduce the burden of OM in high-risk populations; however no data exists examining naturally acquired antibody in Aboriginal children with OM. METHODS Serum and salivary IgA and IgG were measured against the S. pneumoniae antigens PspA1 and 2, CbpA and Ply in a cross sectional study of 183 children, including 36 non-Aboriginal healthy control children and 70 Aboriginal children and 77 non-Aboriginal children undergoing surgery for OM using a multiplex bead assay. RESULTS Significant differences were observed between the 3 groups for serum anti-PspA1 IgA, anti-CbpA and anti-Ply IgG and for all salivary antibodies assessed. Aboriginal children with a history of OM had significantly higher antibody titres than non-Aboriginal healthy children with no history of OM and non-Aboriginal children with a history of OM for several proteins in serum and saliva. Non-Aboriginal children with a history of OM had significantly higher salivary anti-PspA1 IgG than healthy children, while all other titres were comparable between the groups. CONCLUSIONS Conserved vaccine candidate proteins from S. pneumoniae induce serum and salivary antibody responses in Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal children with a history of OM. Aboriginal children do not have an impaired antibody response to the antigens measured from S. pneumoniae and they may represent vaccine candidates in Indigenous populations.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ruth B Thornton
- School of Paediatrics and Child Health, The University of Western Australia, GPO Box D184, Perth, Western Australia, 6840, Australia; Telethon Kids Institute, The University of Western Australia, 100 Roberts Road, Subiaco, Western Australia, 6008, Australia.
| | - Lea-Ann S Kirkham
- School of Paediatrics and Child Health, The University of Western Australia, GPO Box D184, Perth, Western Australia, 6840, Australia; Telethon Kids Institute, The University of Western Australia, 100 Roberts Road, Subiaco, Western Australia, 6008, Australia.
| | - Karli J Corscadden
- School of Paediatrics and Child Health, The University of Western Australia, GPO Box D184, Perth, Western Australia, 6840, Australia; Telethon Kids Institute, The University of Western Australia, 100 Roberts Road, Subiaco, Western Australia, 6008, Australia.
| | - Harvey L Coates
- School of Paediatrics and Child Health, The University of Western Australia, GPO Box D184, Perth, Western Australia, 6840, Australia; Telethon Kids Institute, The University of Western Australia, 100 Roberts Road, Subiaco, Western Australia, 6008, Australia; Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Princess Margaret Hospital for Children, Roberts Road, Subiaco, Western Australia, 6008, Australia.
| | - Shyan Vijayasekaran
- School of Paediatrics and Child Health, The University of Western Australia, GPO Box D184, Perth, Western Australia, 6840, Australia; Telethon Kids Institute, The University of Western Australia, 100 Roberts Road, Subiaco, Western Australia, 6008, Australia; Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Princess Margaret Hospital for Children, Roberts Road, Subiaco, Western Australia, 6008, Australia.
| | - Jessica Hillwood
- School of Paediatrics and Child Health, The University of Western Australia, GPO Box D184, Perth, Western Australia, 6840, Australia.
| | - Sophie Toster
- School of Paediatrics and Child Health, The University of Western Australia, GPO Box D184, Perth, Western Australia, 6840, Australia.
| | - Phillipa Edminston
- School of Paediatrics and Child Health, The University of Western Australia, GPO Box D184, Perth, Western Australia, 6840, Australia.
| | - Guicheng Zhang
- School of Paediatrics and Child Health, The University of Western Australia, GPO Box D184, Perth, Western Australia, 6840, Australia; School of Public Health, Curtin University, GPO Box U1987, Perth, Western Australia, 6845, Australia.
| | - Anthony Keil
- PathWest Laboratory Medicine WA, Princess Margaret Hospital for Children, Roberts Road, Subiaco, Western Australia, 6008, Australia.
| | - Peter C Richmond
- School of Paediatrics and Child Health, The University of Western Australia, GPO Box D184, Perth, Western Australia, 6840, Australia; Telethon Kids Institute, The University of Western Australia, 100 Roberts Road, Subiaco, Western Australia, 6008, Australia; Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Princess Margaret Hospital for Children, Roberts Road, Subiaco, Western Australia, 6008, Australia.
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Enhanced protective responses to a serotype-independent pneumococcal vaccine when combined with an inactivated influenza vaccine. Clin Sci (Lond) 2016; 131:169-180. [PMID: 27885052 DOI: 10.1042/cs20160475] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/25/2016] [Revised: 11/10/2016] [Accepted: 11/23/2016] [Indexed: 12/21/2022]
Abstract
Streptococcus pneumoniae and influenza are the world's foremost bacterial and viral respiratory pathogens. We have previously described a γ-irradiated influenza A virus (γ-FLU) vaccine that provides cross-protective immunity against heterosubtypic infections. More recently, we reported a novel non-adjuvanted γ-irradiated S pneumoniae (γ-PN) vaccine that elicits serotype-independent protection. Considering the clinical synergism of both pathogens, combination of a serotype-independent pneumococcal vaccine with a broad-spectrum influenza vaccine to protect against both infections would have a considerable clinical impact. In the present study, we co-immunized C57BL/6 mice intranasally (IN) with a mixture of γ-PN (whole inactivated cells) and γ-FLU (whole inactivated virions) and examined protective efficacy. Co-immunization enhanced γ-PN vaccine efficacy against virulent pneumococcal challenge, which was dependent on CD4+ T-cell responses. In contrast, vaccination with γ-PN alone, co-immunization enhanced pneumococcal-specific effector T-helper 17 cell (Th17) and Th1 memory cell, promoted development of CD4+ tissue-resident memory (TRM) cells and enhanced Pneumococcus-specific antibody responses. Furthermore, co-immunization elicited significant protection against lethal influenza challenge, as well as against co-infection with both influenza and S pneumoniae. This is the first report showing the synergistic effect of combining whole cell and whole virion vaccines to both S pneumoniae and influenza as a single vaccine to protect against individual and co-infection, without compromising pathogen-specific immunity.
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35
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Natural Development of Antibodies against Streptococcus pneumoniae, Haemophilus influenzae, and Moraxella catarrhalis Protein Antigens during the First 13 Years of Life. CLINICAL AND VACCINE IMMUNOLOGY : CVI 2016; 23:878-883. [PMID: 27581439 DOI: 10.1128/cvi.00341-16] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/28/2016] [Accepted: 08/26/2016] [Indexed: 12/27/2022]
Abstract
Conserved protein antigens have been investigated as vaccine candidates against respiratory pathogens. We evaluated the natural development of antibodies against Streptococcus pneumoniae, Haemophilus influenzae, and Moraxella catarrhalis proteins during childhood. Serum samples were collected from 50 healthy children from their first months to age 13 years (median sampling interval, 6 months). We also analyzed serum samples from 24 adults. Serum IgG antibodies against eight pneumococcal proteins (Ply, CbpA, PspA 1 and 2, PcpA, PhtD, StkP-C, and PcsB-N), three H. influenzae proteins, and five M. catarrhalis proteins were measured using a multiplexed bead-based immunoassay. Antibody levels were analyzed using multilevel mixed-effects regression and Spearman's correlation. Antibody levels against pneumococcal proteins peaked at 3 to 5 years of age and then reached a plateau. Antibody levels against H. influenzae proteins peaked during the second year and then stabilized. Antibody levels against M. catarrhalis proteins peaked during the first year and then slowly decreased. Peak antibody levels during childhood were higher than those of adults. Correlations among pneumococcal antibody levels were highest among anti-CbpA, anti-PcpA, and anti-PhtD antibodies (r = 0.71 to 0.75; P < 0.001). The children presented 854 symptomatic respiratory infections on 586 occasions. Symptomatic respiratory infections did not improve prediction of antibody levels in the regression model. The maturation of immune responses against the investigated pneumococcal proteins shares similarities, especially among CbpA, PcpA, and PhtD. Antibody production against H. influenzae and M. catarrhalis proteins starts early in life and reaches peak levels earlier than antibody production against the pneumococcal proteins. Basal antibody levels are not related to the occurrence of symptomatic respiratory infections.
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Intranasal vaccination with γ-irradiated Streptococcus pneumoniae whole-cell vaccine provides serotype-independent protection mediated by B-cells and innate IL-17 responses. Clin Sci (Lond) 2016; 130:697-710. [PMID: 26831937 DOI: 10.1042/cs20150699] [Citation(s) in RCA: 37] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/01/2015] [Accepted: 02/01/2016] [Indexed: 12/27/2022]
Abstract
Generating a pneumococcal vaccine that is serotype independent and cost effective remains a global challenge. γ-Irradiation has been used widely to sterilize biological products. It can also be utilized as an inactivation technique to generate whole-cell bacterial and viral vaccines with minimal impact on pathogen structure and antigenic determinants. In the present study, we utilized γ-irradiation to inactivate an un-encapsulated Streptococcus pneumoniae strain Rx1 with an unmarked deletion of the autolysin gene lytA and with the pneumolysin gene ply replaced with an allele encoding a non-toxic pneumolysoid (PdT) (designated γ-PN vaccine). Intranasal vaccination of C57BL/6 mice with γ-PN was shown to elicit serotype-independent protection in lethal challenge models of pneumococcal pneumonia and sepsis. Vaccine efficacy was shown to be reliant on B-cells and interleukin (IL)-17A responses. Interestingly, immunization promoted IL-17 production by innate cells not T helper 17 (Th17) cells. These data are the first to report the development of a non-adjuvanted intranasal γ-irradiated pneumococcal vaccine that generates effective serotype-independent protection, which is mediated by both humoral and innate IL-17 responses.
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