title: The design of a capsule polysaccharide conjugate vaccine against Campylobacter jejuni serotype HS15.
abstract: Campylobacter jejuni infection is now the main cause of diarrhea-related illnesses in humans. An efficacious vaccine for the traveler and developing world market would be welcomed. We are engaged in the discovery and characterization of serotype-specific C. jejuni capsule polysaccharides (CPSs) to study their role in virulence and as protective vaccine antigens. Our prototype conjugate vaccine with serotype HS23 CPS (strain 81-176) has been shown to fully protect non-human primates against diarrhea inflicted by C. jejuni HS23, but ultimately, a useful CPS-based vaccine will have to be multivalent. To this end, we describe here the creation of a CPS-conjugate vaccine against C. jejuni serotype HS15. Structural analysis revealed that a repeating block consisting of L-α-arabinofuranose (Ara) and 6-deoxy-L-α-gulo-heptopyranose (6d-gulo-Hep) comprised the CPS of serotype HS15 type strain ATCC 43442 [→3)-α-L-Araf-(1→3)-6d-L-α-gulo-Hepp(1→](n). Strategically, the non-reducing end of the CPS was activated and used in the attachment of CPS to CRM₁₉₇ to yield a conjugate vaccine. A serological assessment of the CPS(HS15)-CRM₁₉₇ conjugate with an anti-HS15 polyclonal antibody confirmed the conservation of antigenic epitopes, and subsequent inoculation of mice with CPS(HS15)-CRM₁₉₇ revealed that this conjugate was indeed capable of raising anti-CPS(HS15) antibodies.
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, University of Guelph, Guelph, Ontario, Canada N1G 2W1.
authors.forename: Lisa
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Bertolo
authors.forename: Cheryl P
authors.initials: CP
authors.lastname: Ewing
authors.forename: Alexander
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Maue
authors.forename: Frederic
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Poly
authors.forename: Patricia
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Guerry
authors.forename: Mario A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Monteiro
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001428:Bacterial Vaccines / Q000138:chemical synthesis* / Q000737:chemistry / Q000276:immunology*; D016123:Campylobacter jejuni / Q000254:growth & development / Q000276:immunology* / Q000302:isolation & purification; D051379:Mice; D008807:Mice, Inbred BALB C; D008826:Microbial Sensitivity Tests; D011135:Polysaccharides, Bacterial / Q000737:chemistry / Q000276:immunology*; D013329:Structure-Activity Relationship; D018074:Vaccines, Conjugate / Q000737:chemistry / Q000276:immunology*
chemical_list: D001428:Bacterial Vaccines; D011135:Polysaccharides, Bacterial; D018074:Vaccines, Conjugate