title: Neonatal mouse immunity against group B streptococcal infection by maternal vaccination with recombinant anti-idiotypes.
abstract: We investigated whether immunization with recombinant anti-idiotypic antibody fragments mimicking the conformation of the capsular antigen can protect against infection by group B streptococcus, an important neonatal pathogen. Single-chain fragment-variable anti-idiotypes competed with the type III carbohydrate for binding to type-specific antibodies and elicited, in mice, the production of protective immunoglobulins reacting against the type III polysaccharide. Moreover, maternal immunization with soluble or phage-displayed fragments protected neonatal mice against streptococcal infection. These data indicate that recombinant anti-idiotypic antibodies may be useful in developing protein images of relevant carbohydrate epitopes and, ultimately, in preventing infections by encapsulated bacteria.
authors.affiliation: Istituto di Microbiologia, Facoltà di Medicina e Chirurgia, Università degli Studi di Parma, Italy.
authors.forename: W
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Magliani
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Polonelli
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Conti
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Salati
authors.forename: P F
authors.initials: PF
authors.lastname: Rocca
authors.forename: V
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Cusumano
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Mancuso
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Teti
mesh_terms: D000371:Agglutination / Q000187:drug effects; D000372:Agglutination Tests; D000818:Animals; D000831:Animals, Newborn; D000888:Antibodies, Anti-Idiotypic / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology*; D000917:Antibody Formation / Q000187:drug effects / Q000276:immunology; D005260:Female; D007112:Immunity, Maternally-Acquired / Q000276:immunology*; D007128:Immunoglobulin Fragments / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000276:immunology; D007135:Immunoglobulin Variable Region / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000276:immunology; D008297:Male; D051379:Mice; D008807:Mice, Inbred BALB C; D011994:Recombinant Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology; D013290:Streptococcal Infections / Q000276:immunology* / Q000517:prevention & control; D013292:Streptococcus agalactiae; D014611:Vaccination; D019444:Vaccines, DNA / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology*
chemical_list: D000888:Antibodies, Anti-Idiotypic; D007128:Immunoglobulin Fragments; D007135:Immunoglobulin Variable Region; D011994:Recombinant Proteins; D019444:Vaccines, DNA; C055966:immunoglobulin Fv