title: Immunization using GroEL decreases Clostridium difficile intestinal colonization.
abstract: Clostridium difficile is a pathogen which is responsible for diarrhea and colitis, particularly after treatment with antibiotics. Clinical signs are mainly due to two toxins, TcdA and TcdB. However, the first step of pathogenesis is the colonization process. We evaluated C. difficile surface proteins as vaccine antigens in the hamster model to prevent intestinal colonization. This vaccination induced a partial protection of hamsters against death after a C. difficile challenge. A proteomic analysis of animal sera allowed us to identify proteins which could be responsible for the protection observed. Among these proteins, we identified the GroEL heat shock protein. To confirm the role of the specific GroEL antibodies in the delayed C. difficile colonization of hamsters, we performed an immunization assay in a mouse model. After intranasal immunization with the recombinant protein GroEL, we observed a lower C. difficile intestinal colonization in the immunized group as compared to the control group.
authors.affiliation: Université Paris-Sud, Faculté de Pharmacie, Equipe d'Accueil 4043, Unité Sous Contrat Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique, Châtenay-Malabry, France.
authors.forename: Séverine
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Péchiné
authors.forename: Claire
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Hennequin
authors.forename: Céline
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Boursier
authors.forename: Sandra
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Hoys
authors.forename: Anne
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Collignon
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000907:Antibodies, Bacterial / Q000097:blood / Q000276:immunology; D000918:Antibody Specificity / Q000276:immunology; D001426:Bacterial Proteins / Q000276:immunology* / Q000378:metabolism; D001428:Bacterial Vaccines / Q000276:immunology; D002473:Cell Wall / Q000276:immunology / Q000378:metabolism; D018834:Chaperonin 60 / Q000276:immunology* / Q000378:metabolism; D016360:Clostridioides difficile / Q000276:immunology* / Q000378:metabolism; D006224:Cricetinae; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D004761:Enterocolitis, Pseudomembranous / Q000276:immunology / Q000382:microbiology / Q000401:mortality; D005260:Female; D007114:Immunization; D007422:Intestines / Q000276:immunology* / Q000382:microbiology*; D051379:Mice; D040901:Proteomics / Q000379:methods; D011994:Recombinant Proteins / Q000276:immunology
chemical_list: D000907:Antibodies, Bacterial; D001426:Bacterial Proteins; D001428:Bacterial Vaccines; D018834:Chaperonin 60; D011994:Recombinant Proteins