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Corona-Torres R, Vohra P, Chintoan-Uta C, Bremner A, Terra VS, Mauri M, Cuccui J, Vervelde L, Wren BW, Stevens MP. Evaluation of a FlpA Glycoconjugate Vaccine with Ten N-Heptasaccharide Glycan Moieties to reduce Campylobacter jejuni Colonisation in Chickens. Vaccines (Basel) 2024; 12:395. [PMID: 38675777 PMCID: PMC11054393 DOI: 10.3390/vaccines12040395] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/13/2024] [Revised: 03/17/2024] [Accepted: 03/20/2024] [Indexed: 04/28/2024] Open
Abstract
Campylobacter is a major cause of acute gastroenteritis in humans, and infections can be followed by inflammatory neuropathies and other sequelae. Handling or consumption of poultry meat is the primary risk factor for human campylobacteriosis, and C. jejuni remains highly prevalent in retail chicken in many countries. Control of Campylobacter in the avian reservoir is expected to limit the incidence of human disease. Toward this aim, we evaluated a glycoconjugate vaccine comprising the fibronectin-binding adhesin FlpA conjugated to up to ten moieties of the conserved N-linked heptasaccharide glycan of C. jejuni or with FlpA alone. The glycan dose significantly exceeded previous trials using FlpA with two N-glycan moieties. Vaccinated birds were challenged with C. jejuni orally or by exposure to seeder-birds colonised by C. jejuni to mimic natural transmission. No protection against caecal colonisation was observed with FlpA or the FlpA glycoconjugate vaccine. FlpA-specific antibody responses were significantly induced in vaccinated birds at the point of challenge relative to mock-vaccinated birds. A slight but significant antibody response to the N-glycan was detected after vaccination with FlpA-10×GT and challenge. As other laboratories have reported protection against Campylobacter with FlpA and glycoconjugate vaccines in chickens, our data indicate that vaccine-mediated immunity may be sensitive to host- or study-specific variables.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ricardo Corona-Torres
- The Roslin Institute and Royal (Dick) School of Veterinary Studies, University of Edinburgh, Easter Bush, Edinburgh EH25 9RG, UK; (R.C.-T.); (P.V.); (C.C.-U.); (A.B.); (L.V.)
| | - Prerna Vohra
- The Roslin Institute and Royal (Dick) School of Veterinary Studies, University of Edinburgh, Easter Bush, Edinburgh EH25 9RG, UK; (R.C.-T.); (P.V.); (C.C.-U.); (A.B.); (L.V.)
- Institute for Immunology and Infection Research, School of Biological Sciences, Charlotte Auerbach Road, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh EH9 3FF, UK
| | - Cosmin Chintoan-Uta
- The Roslin Institute and Royal (Dick) School of Veterinary Studies, University of Edinburgh, Easter Bush, Edinburgh EH25 9RG, UK; (R.C.-T.); (P.V.); (C.C.-U.); (A.B.); (L.V.)
| | - Abi Bremner
- The Roslin Institute and Royal (Dick) School of Veterinary Studies, University of Edinburgh, Easter Bush, Edinburgh EH25 9RG, UK; (R.C.-T.); (P.V.); (C.C.-U.); (A.B.); (L.V.)
| | - Vanessa S. Terra
- Department of Infection Biology, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, Keppel Street, London WC1E 7HT, UK; (V.S.T.); (M.M.); (J.C.); (B.W.W.)
| | - Marta Mauri
- Department of Infection Biology, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, Keppel Street, London WC1E 7HT, UK; (V.S.T.); (M.M.); (J.C.); (B.W.W.)
| | - Jon Cuccui
- Department of Infection Biology, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, Keppel Street, London WC1E 7HT, UK; (V.S.T.); (M.M.); (J.C.); (B.W.W.)
| | - Lonneke Vervelde
- The Roslin Institute and Royal (Dick) School of Veterinary Studies, University of Edinburgh, Easter Bush, Edinburgh EH25 9RG, UK; (R.C.-T.); (P.V.); (C.C.-U.); (A.B.); (L.V.)
| | - Brendan W. Wren
- Department of Infection Biology, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, Keppel Street, London WC1E 7HT, UK; (V.S.T.); (M.M.); (J.C.); (B.W.W.)
| | - Mark P. Stevens
- The Roslin Institute and Royal (Dick) School of Veterinary Studies, University of Edinburgh, Easter Bush, Edinburgh EH25 9RG, UK; (R.C.-T.); (P.V.); (C.C.-U.); (A.B.); (L.V.)
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Vohra P, Bremner A, Nicholls B, Chintoan-Uta C, Corona-Torres R, Stevens MP. Evaluation of N-glycan-decorated live attenuated Escherichia coli and outer membrane vesicles as vaccines against Campylobacter jejuni colonisation in chickens. Vaccine 2023:S0264-410X(23)00595-9. [PMID: 37277252 DOI: 10.1016/j.vaccine.2023.05.046] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/27/2022] [Revised: 05/05/2023] [Accepted: 05/17/2023] [Indexed: 06/07/2023]
Abstract
Campylobacter jejuni is a leading global cause of bacterial gastroenteritis in humans, and poultry are a major reservoir. Glycoconjugate vaccines containing the conserved C. jejuni N-glycan have previously been reported to be effective at reducing caecal colonisation of chickens by C. jejuni. These include recombinant subunit vaccines, live E. coli strains expressing the N-glycan on the surface as well as outer membrane vesicles (OMVs) derived from these E. coli strains. In this study, we evaluated the efficacy of live E. coli expressing the C. jejuni N-glycan from a plasmid and glycosylated OMVs (G-OMVs) derived from them against colonisation by different C. jejuni strains. Despite the C. jejuni N-glycan being expressed on the surface of the live strain and the OMVs, no reduction in caecal colonisation by C. jejuni was observed and N-glycan-specific responses were not detected.
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Affiliation(s)
- Prerna Vohra
- The Roslin Institute and Royal (Dick) School of Veterinary Studies, University of Edinburgh, Easter Bush, Edinburgh EH25 9RG, United Kingdom; Institute for Immunology and Infection Research, School of Biological Sciences, Charlotte Auerbach Road, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh EH9 3FF, United Kingdom.
| | - Abi Bremner
- The Roslin Institute and Royal (Dick) School of Veterinary Studies, University of Edinburgh, Easter Bush, Edinburgh EH25 9RG, United Kingdom
| | - Bethany Nicholls
- The Roslin Institute and Royal (Dick) School of Veterinary Studies, University of Edinburgh, Easter Bush, Edinburgh EH25 9RG, United Kingdom
| | - Cosmin Chintoan-Uta
- The Roslin Institute and Royal (Dick) School of Veterinary Studies, University of Edinburgh, Easter Bush, Edinburgh EH25 9RG, United Kingdom
| | - Ricardo Corona-Torres
- The Roslin Institute and Royal (Dick) School of Veterinary Studies, University of Edinburgh, Easter Bush, Edinburgh EH25 9RG, United Kingdom
| | - Mark P Stevens
- The Roslin Institute and Royal (Dick) School of Veterinary Studies, University of Edinburgh, Easter Bush, Edinburgh EH25 9RG, United Kingdom
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Passmore IJ, Faulds-Pain A, Abouelhadid S, Harrison MA, Hall CL, Hitchen P, Dell A, Heap JT, Wren BW. A combinatorial DNA assembly approach to biosynthesis of N-linked glycans in E. coli. Glycobiology 2023; 33:138-149. [PMID: 36637423 PMCID: PMC9990991 DOI: 10.1093/glycob/cwac082] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/22/2022] [Revised: 12/02/2022] [Accepted: 12/12/2022] [Indexed: 01/14/2023] Open
Abstract
Glycoengineering of recombinant glycans and glycoconjugates is a rapidly evolving field. However, the production and exploitation of glycans has lagged behind that of proteins and nucleic acids. Biosynthetic glycoconjugate production requires the coordinated cooperation of three key components within a bacterial cell: a substrate protein, a coupling oligosaccharyltransferase, and a glycan biosynthesis locus. While the acceptor protein and oligosaccharyltransferase are the products of single genes, the glycan is a product of a multigene metabolic pathway. Typically, the glycan biosynthesis locus is cloned and transferred en bloc from the native organism to a suitable Escherichia coli strain. However, gene expression within these pathways has been optimized by natural selection in the native host and is unlikely to be optimal for heterologous production in an unrelated organism. In recent years, synthetic biology has addressed the challenges in heterologous expression of multigene systems by deconstructing these pathways and rebuilding them from the bottom up. The use of DNA assembly methods allows the convenient assembly of such pathways by combining defined parts with the requisite coding sequences in a single step. In this study, we apply combinatorial assembly to the heterologous biosynthesis of the Campylobacter jejuni N-glycosylation (pgl) pathway in E. coli. We engineered reconstructed biosynthesis clusters that faithfully reproduced the C. jejuni heptasaccharide glycan. Furthermore, following a single round of combinatorial assembly and screening, we identified pathway clones that outperform glycan and glycoconjugate production of the native unmodified pgl cluster. This platform offers a flexible method for optimal engineering of glycan structures in E. coli.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ian J Passmore
- London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, Department of Infection Biology, London, WC1E 7HT, UK
| | | | - Sherif Abouelhadid
- London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, Department of Infection Biology, London, WC1E 7HT, UK
| | - Mark A Harrison
- London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, Department of Infection Biology, London, WC1E 7HT, UK
| | - Catherine L Hall
- London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, Department of Infection Biology, London, WC1E 7HT, UK
| | - Paul Hitchen
- Imperial College London, Department of Life Sciences, London, SW7 2AZ, UK
| | - Anne Dell
- Imperial College London, Department of Life Sciences, London, SW7 2AZ, UK
| | - John T Heap
- University of Nottingham, School of Life Sciences, Nottingham, NG7 2RD, UK
| | - Brendan W Wren
- London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, Department of Infection Biology, London, WC1E 7HT, UK
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McDonald JB, Scott NE, Underwood GJ, Andrews DM, Van TTH, Moore RJ. Characterisation of N-linked protein glycosylation in the bacterial pathogen Campylobacter hepaticus. Sci Rep 2023; 13:227. [PMID: 36604449 PMCID: PMC9816155 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-022-26532-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/31/2022] [Accepted: 12/15/2022] [Indexed: 01/06/2023] Open
Abstract
Campylobacter hepaticus is an important pathogen which causes Spotty Liver Disease (SLD) in layer chickens. SLD results in an increase in mortality and a significant decrease in egg production and therefore is an important economic concern of the global poultry industry. The human pathogen Campylobacter jejuni encodes an N-linked glycosylation system that plays fundamental roles in host colonization and pathogenicity. While N-linked glycosylation has been extensively studied in C. jejuni and is now known to occur in a range of Campylobacter species, little is known about C. hepaticus glycosylation. In this study glycoproteomic analysis was used to confirm the functionality of the C. hepaticus N-glycosylation system. It was shown that C. hepaticus HV10T modifies > 35 proteins with an N-linked heptasaccharide glycan. C. hepaticus shares highly conserved glycoproteins with C. jejuni that are involved in host colonisation and also possesses unique glycoproteins which may contribute to its ability to survive in challenging host environments. C. hepaticus N-glycosylation may function as an important virulence factor, providing an opportunity to investigate and develop a better understanding the system's role in poultry infection.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jamieson B McDonald
- School of Science, RMIT University, Bundoora West Campus, Bundoora, VIC, Australia
| | - Nichollas E Scott
- Department of Microbiology and Immunology, University of Melbourne at the Peter Doherty Institute for Infection and Immunity, Parkville, VIC, Australia
| | - Greg J Underwood
- Bioproperties Pty Ltd, RMIT University, Bundoora West Campus, Bundoora, VIC, Australia
| | - Daniel M Andrews
- Bioproperties Pty Ltd, RMIT University, Bundoora West Campus, Bundoora, VIC, Australia
| | - Thi Thu Hao Van
- School of Science, RMIT University, Bundoora West Campus, Bundoora, VIC, Australia
| | - Robert J Moore
- School of Science, RMIT University, Bundoora West Campus, Bundoora, VIC, Australia.
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Smith AA, Corona-Torres R, Hewitt RE, Stevens MP, Grant AJ. Modification of avian pathogenic Escherichia coli χ7122 lipopolysaccharide increases accessibility to glycoconjugate antigens. Microb Cell Fact 2022; 21:181. [PMID: 36071433 PMCID: PMC9449299 DOI: 10.1186/s12934-022-01903-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/15/2022] [Accepted: 08/17/2022] [Indexed: 11/17/2022] Open
Abstract
Background Worldwide, an estimated 70.7 billion broilers were produced in 2020. With the reduction in use of prophylactic antibiotics as a result of consumer pressure and regulatory oversight alternative approaches, such as vaccination, are required to control bacterial infections. A potential way to produce a multivalent vaccine is via the generation of a glycoconjugate vaccine which consists of an antigenic protein covalently linked to an immunogenic carbohydrate. Protein-glycan coupling technology (PGCT) is an approach to generate glycoconjugates using enzymes that can couple proteins and glycan when produced in bacterial cells. Previous studies have used PGCT to generate a live-attenuated avian pathogenic Escherichia coli (APEC) strain capable of N-glycosylation of target proteins using a chromosomally integrated Campylobacter jejuni pgl locus. However, this proved ineffective against C. jejuni challenge. Results In this study we demonstrate the lack of surface exposure of glycosylated protein in APEC strain χ7122 carrying the pgl locus. Furthermore, we hypothesise that this may be due to the complex cell-surface architecture of E. coli. To this end, we removed the lipopolysaccharide O-antigen of APEC χ7122 pgl+ via deletion of the wecA gene and demonstrate increased surface exposure of glycosylated antigens (NetB and FlpA) in this strain. We hypothesise that increasing the surface expression of the glycosylated protein would increase the chance of host immune cells being exposed to the glycoconjugate, and therefore the generation of an efficacious immune response would be more likely. Conclusions Our results demonstrate an increase in cell surface exposure and therefore accessibility of glycosylated antigens upon removal of lipopolysaccharide antigen from the APEC cell surface.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alexander A Smith
- Department of Veterinary Medicine, University of Cambridge, Madingley Road, Cambridge, UK
| | - Ricardo Corona-Torres
- The Roslin Institute and Royal (Dick) School of Veterinary Studies, University of Edinburgh, Easter Bush, Midlothian, UK
| | - Rachel E Hewitt
- Department of Veterinary Medicine, University of Cambridge, Madingley Road, Cambridge, UK
| | - Mark P Stevens
- The Roslin Institute and Royal (Dick) School of Veterinary Studies, University of Edinburgh, Easter Bush, Midlothian, UK
| | - Andrew J Grant
- Department of Veterinary Medicine, University of Cambridge, Madingley Road, Cambridge, UK.
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Pandey A, Gupta VK. Special Issue 'Microbial glycobiotechnology'. Microb Cell Fact 2022; 21:54. [PMID: 35392921 PMCID: PMC8991797 DOI: 10.1186/s12934-022-01784-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/06/2023] Open
Affiliation(s)
- Ashok Pandey
- grid.417638.f0000 0001 2194 5503Centre for Innovation and Translational Research, CSIR-Indian Institute for Toxicology Research (CSIR-IITR), Lucknow, 226001 India ,Centre for Energy and Environmental Sustainability, Lucknow, 226029 Uttar Pradesh India ,grid.444415.40000 0004 1759 0860Sustainability Cluster, School of Engineering, University of Petroleum and Energy Studies, Dehradun, 248007 Uttarkhand India
| | - Vijai Kumar Gupta
- grid.426884.40000 0001 0170 6644Biorefining and Advanced Materials Research Center, SRUC, Kings Buildings, West Mains Road, Edinburgh, EH9 3JG UK ,grid.426884.40000 0001 0170 6644Center for Safe and Improved Food, SRUC, Kings Buildings, West Mains Road, Edinburgh, EH9 3JG UK
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Terra VS, Mauri M, Sannasiddappa TH, Smith AA, Stevens MP, Grant AJ, Wren BW, Cuccui J. PglB function and glycosylation efficiency is temperature dependent when the pgl locus is integrated in the Escherichia coli chromosome. Microb Cell Fact 2022; 21:6. [PMID: 34986868 PMCID: PMC8728485 DOI: 10.1186/s12934-021-01728-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/07/2021] [Accepted: 12/17/2021] [Indexed: 11/23/2022] Open
Abstract
Background Campylobacter is an animal and zoonotic pathogen of global importance, and a pressing need exists for effective vaccines, including those that make use of conserved polysaccharide antigens. To this end, we adapted Protein Glycan Coupling Technology (PGCT) to develop a versatile Escherichia coli strain capable of generating multiple glycoconjugate vaccine candidates against Campylobacter jejuni. Results We generated a glycoengineering E. coli strain containing the conserved C. jejuni heptasaccharide coding region integrated in its chromosome as a model glycan. This methodology confers three advantages: (i) reduction of plasmids and antibiotic markers used for PGCT, (ii) swift generation of many glycan-protein combinations and consequent rapid identification of the most antigenic proteins or peptides, and (iii) increased genetic stability of the polysaccharide coding-region. In this study, by using the model glycan expressing strain, we were able to test proteins from C. jejuni, Pseudomonas aeruginosa (both Gram-negative), and Clostridium perfringens (Gram-positive) as acceptors. Using this pgl integrant E. coli strain, four glycoconjugates were readily generated. Two glycoconjugates, where both protein and glycan are from C. jejuni (double-hit vaccines), and two glycoconjugates, where the glycan antigen is conjugated to a detoxified toxin from a different pathogen (single-hit vaccines). Because the downstream application of Live Attenuated Vaccine Strains (LAVS) against C. jejuni is to be used in poultry, which have a higher body temperature of 42 °C, we investigated the effect of temperature on protein expression and glycosylation in the E. coli pgl integrant strain. Conclusions We determined that glycosylation is temperature dependent and that for the combination of heptasaccharide and carriers used in this study, the level of PglB available for glycosylation is a step limiting factor in the glycosylation reaction. We also demonstrated that temperature affects the ability of PglB to glycosylate its substrates in an in vitro glycosylation assay independent of its transcriptional level. Supplementary Information The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12934-021-01728-7.
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Affiliation(s)
- Vanessa S Terra
- London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, Keppel Street, London, WC1E7HT, UK
| | - Marta Mauri
- London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, Keppel Street, London, WC1E7HT, UK
| | - Thippeswamy H Sannasiddappa
- Department of Veterinary Medicine, University of Cambridge, Madingley Road, Cambridge, CB3 0ES, Cambridgeshire, UK
| | - Alexander A Smith
- Department of Veterinary Medicine, University of Cambridge, Madingley Road, Cambridge, CB3 0ES, Cambridgeshire, UK
| | - Mark P Stevens
- The Roslin Institute and Royal (Dick) School of Veterinary Studies, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, EH25 9RG, UK
| | - Andrew J Grant
- Department of Veterinary Medicine, University of Cambridge, Madingley Road, Cambridge, CB3 0ES, Cambridgeshire, UK
| | - Brendan W Wren
- London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, Keppel Street, London, WC1E7HT, UK.
| | - Jon Cuccui
- London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, Keppel Street, London, WC1E7HT, UK.
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A triple-sugar regulated Salmonella vaccine protects against Clostridium perfringens-induced necrotic enteritis in broiler chickens. Poult Sci 2021; 101:101592. [PMID: 34922043 PMCID: PMC8686071 DOI: 10.1016/j.psj.2021.101592] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/31/2021] [Revised: 11/02/2021] [Accepted: 11/04/2021] [Indexed: 02/08/2023] Open
Abstract
Gram-positive Clostridium perfringens type G, the causative agent of necrotic enteritis (NE), has gained more attention in the poultry industry due to governmental restrictions on the use of growth-promoting antibiotics in poultry feed. Our previous work has proved that regulated delayed lysis Salmonella vaccines delivering a plasmid encoding an operon fusion of the nontoxic C-terminal adhesive part of alpha toxin and a GST-NetB toxin fusion were able to elicit significant protective immunity in broilers against C. perfringens challenge. We recently improved our S. Typhimurium antigen delivery vaccine strain by integrating a rhamnose-regulated O-antigen synthesis gene enabling a triple-sugar regulation system to control virulence, antigen-synthesis and lysis in vivo traits. The strain also includes a ΔsifA mutation that was previously shown to increase the immunogenicity of and level of protective immunity induced by Salmonella vectored influenza and Eimeria antigens. The new antigen-delivery vaccine vector system confers on the vaccine strain a safe profile and improved protection against C. perfringens challenge. The strain with the triple-sugar regulation system delivering a regulated lysis plasmid pG8R220 encoding the PlcC and GST-NetB antigens protected chickens at a similar level observed in antibiotic-treated chickens. Feed conversion and growth performance were also similar to antibiotic-treated chickens. These studies made use of a severe C. perfringens challenge with lesion formation and mortality enhanced by pre-exposure to Eimeria maxima oocysts. The vaccine achieved effectiveness through three different immunization routes, oral, spray and in drinking water. The vaccine has a potential for application in commercial hatcher and broiler-rearing conditions.
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