title: Immune responses elicited by bacterial minicells capable of simultaneous DNA and protein antigen delivery.
abstract: Recent events surrounding emerging infectious diseases, bioterrorism and increasing multidrug antibiotic resistance in bacteria have drastically increased current needs for effective vaccines. Many years of study have shown that live, attenuated pathogens are often more effective at delivering heterologous protein or DNA to induce protective immune responses. However, these vaccine carriers have inherent safety concerns that have limited their development and their use in many patient populations. Studies using nonliving delivery mechanisms have shown that providing both protein antigen and DNA encoding the antigen to an individual induces an improved, more protective immune response but rarely, if ever, are both delivered simultaneously. Here, non-replicating bacterial minicells derived from a commensal E. coli strain are shown to effectively induce antigen-specific immune responses after simultaneous protein and DNA delivery. These data demonstrate the potential use of achromosomal bacterial minicells as a vaccine carrier.
authors.affiliation: The Molecular Biology Institute, San Diego State University, San Diego, CA, USA.
authors.forename: Matthew J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Giacalone
authors.forename: Roger A
authors.initials: RA
authors.lastname: Sabbadini
authors.forename: Amy L
authors.initials: AL
authors.lastname: Chambers
authors.forename: Sabitha
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Pillai
authors.forename: Neil L
authors.initials: NL
authors.lastname: Berkley
authors.forename: Mark W
authors.initials: MW
authors.lastname: Surber
authors.forename: Kathleen L
authors.initials: KL
authors.lastname: McGuire
mesh_terms: D000281:Administration, Intranasal; D000818:Animals; D000917:Antibody Formation; D000938:Antigen-Presenting Cells / Q000276:immunology; D002460:Cell Line; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; D004926:Escherichia coli / Q000235:genetics* / Q000276:immunology; D005260:Female; D049452:Green Fluorescent Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology* / Q000378:metabolism; D018928:Immunity, Mucosal; D007070:Immunoglobulin A / Q000097:blood; D007074:Immunoglobulin G / Q000097:blood; D007273:Injections, Intramuscular; D008264:Macrophages / Q000276:immunology / Q000382:microbiology; D051379:Mice; D008810:Mice, Inbred C57BL; D019444:Vaccines, DNA / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000276:immunology*; D014614:Vaccines, Synthetic / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000276:immunology*
chemical_list: D007070:Immunoglobulin A; D007074:Immunoglobulin G; D019444:Vaccines, DNA; D014614:Vaccines, Synthetic; D049452:Green Fluorescent Proteins