title: The type IV pilin of Burkholderia mallei is highly immunogenic but fails to protect against lethal aerosol challenge in a murine model.
abstract: Burkholderia mallei is the cause of glanders and a proven biological weapon. We identified and purified the type IV pilin protein of this organism to study its potential as a subunit vaccine. We found that purified pilin was highly immunogenic. Furthermore, mice infected via sublethal aerosol challenge developed significant increases in titers of antibody against the pilin, suggesting that it is expressed in vivo. Nevertheless, we found no evidence that high-titer antipilin antisera provided passive protection against a sublethal or lethal aerosol challenge and no evidence of protection afforded by active immunization with purified pilin. These results contrast with the utility of type IV pilin subunit vaccines against other infectious diseases and highlight the need for further efforts to identify protective responses against this pathogen.
authors.affiliation: Division of Infectious Diseases, University of Maryland School of Medicine, 20 Penn Street, Baltimore, MD 21201, USA.
authors.forename: Paula J
authors.initials: PJ
authors.lastname: Fernandes
authors.forename: Qin
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Guo
authors.forename: David M
authors.initials: DM
authors.lastname: Waag
authors.forename: Michael S
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Donnenberg
mesh_terms: D000336:Aerosols; D000818:Animals; D000907:Antibodies, Bacterial / Q000032:analysis / Q000096:biosynthesis; D001428:Bacterial Vaccines / Q000008:administration & dosage* / Q000276:immunology; D042726:Burkholderia mallei / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000276:immunology; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D036781:Fimbriae Proteins / Q000008:administration & dosage* / Q000235:genetics* / Q000276:immunology / Q000378:metabolism; D005896:Glanders / Q000276:immunology / Q000401:mortality / Q000517:prevention & control*; D051379:Mice; D017211:Treatment Failure
chemical_list: D000336:Aerosols; D000907:Antibodies, Bacterial; D001428:Bacterial Vaccines; D036781:Fimbriae Proteins