title: Comprehensive antigen screening identifies Moraxella catarrhalis proteins that induce protection in a mouse pulmonary clearance model.
abstract: Moraxella catarrhalis is one of the three most common causative bacterial pathogens of otitis media, however no effective vaccine against M. catarrhalis has been developed so far. To identify M. catarrhalis vaccine candidate antigens, we used carefully selected sera from children with otitis media and healthy individuals to screen small-fragment genomic libraries that are expressed to display frame-selected peptides on a bacterial cell surface. This ANTIGENome technology led to the identification of 214 antigens, 23 of which were selected by in vitro or in vivo studies for additional characterization. Eight of the 23 candidates were tested in a Moraxella mouse pulmonary clearance model, and 3 of these antigens induced significantly faster bacterial clearance compared to adjuvant or to the previously characterized antigen OmpCD. The most significant protection data were obtained with the antigen MCR_1416 (Msp22), which was further investigated for its biological function by in vitro studies suggesting that Msp22 is a heme binding protein. This study comprises one of the most exhaustive studies to identify potential vaccine candidate antigens against the bacterial pathogen M. catarrhalis.
authors.affiliation: Intercell AG, Campus Vienna Biocenter 3, Vienna, Austria.
authors.forename: Margarita
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Smidt
authors.forename: Patrick
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Bättig
authors.forename: Suzanne J C
authors.initials: SJ
authors.lastname: Verhaegh
authors.forename: Axel
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Niebisch
authors.forename: Markus
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Hanner
authors.forename: Sanja
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Selak
authors.forename: Wolfgang
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Schüler
authors.forename: Eva
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Morfeldt
authors.forename: Christel
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Hellberg
authors.forename: Eszter
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Nagy
authors.forename: Urban
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Lundberg
authors.forename: John P
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Hays
authors.forename: Andreas
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Meinke
authors.forename: Birgitta
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Henriques-Normark
mesh_terms: D018829:Adhesins, Bacterial / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology; D000818:Animals; D000907:Antibodies, Bacterial / Q000097:blood / Q000276:immunology; D000942:Antigens, Bacterial / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology*; D001426:Bacterial Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology*; D001428:Bacterial Vaccines / Q000276:immunology; D015153:Blotting, Western; D002648:Child; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; D015698:Genomic Library; D006420:Hemeproteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology; D054884:Host-Pathogen Interactions / Q000276:immunology; D006801:Humans; D008168:Lung / Q000276:immunology* / Q000382:microbiology; D051379:Mice; D001936:Moraxella catarrhalis / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology* / Q000502:physiology; D045828:Moraxellaceae Infections / Q000276:immunology* / Q000382:microbiology; D010033:Otitis Media / Q000276:immunology / Q000382:microbiology
chemical_list: D018829:Adhesins, Bacterial; D000907:Antibodies, Bacterial; D000942:Antigens, Bacterial; D001426:Bacterial Proteins; D001428:Bacterial Vaccines; D006420:Hemeproteins; C484698:outer membrane protein CD, Moraxella catarrhalis