title: Immunological evaluation of an alginate-based conjugate as a vaccine candidate against Pseudomonas aeruginosa.
abstract: Pseudomonas aeruginosa is an opportunistic pathogen that causes serious infections, is usually resistant to antimicrobial agents, and is the leading cause of morbidity and premature mortality in patients with cystic fibrosis (CF). Mucoid strains of P. aeruginosa produce a virulence factor known as alginate. Developing a strategy to raise opsonic antibodies against alginate could be promising for the treatment of P. aeruginosa infection in CF patients. Conjugation of alginate to a carrier protein is a good method for increasing the immunogenicity of alginate. We conjugated alginate to the outer membrane vesicle (OMV) of Neisseria meningitidis serogroup B, which is a safe carrier protein, and evaluated its efficacy in mice. To evaluate the immune response, total IgG, IgG1, IgG2a, and IgG2b titers were analyzed. Immunization of mice with the alginate-OMV conjugate raised the levels of opsonic antibodies, and the vaccinated mice were protected when challenged intranasally with P. aeruginosa. Further studies showed that the conjugated vaccine could eliminate P. aeruginosa from the lungs of infected mice. This study supports the proposal that immunization of mice with an alginate-OMV conjugate vaccine could be safe and protective against P. aeruginosa infection.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology, Shahed University, Tehran, Iran; Department of Microbiology, Microbial research center, Pasteur Institute of Iran, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Ali
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Farjah
authors.forename: Parviz
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Owlia
authors.forename: Seyed Davar
authors.initials: SD
authors.lastname: Siadat
authors.forename: Seyed Fazlollah
authors.initials: SF
authors.lastname: Mousavi
authors.forename: Mehdi Shafiee
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Ardestani
authors.forename: Hashem Khorsand
authors.initials: HK
authors.lastname: Mohammadpour
mesh_terms: D000464:Alginates; D000818:Animals; D000907:Antibodies, Bacterial / Q000097:blood / Q000276:immunology; D058491:Bacterial Load; D002462:Cell Membrane / Q000276:immunology; D003550:Cystic Fibrosis / Q000382:microbiology; D024881:Drug Resistance, Bacterial; D020723:Glucuronic Acid / Q000276:immunology; D006603:Hexuronic Acids / Q000276:immunology; D007074:Immunoglobulin G / Q000097:blood; D051379:Mice; D008807:Mice, Inbred BALB C; D038541:Neisseria meningitidis, Serogroup B / Q000276:immunology; D011552:Pseudomonas Infections / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000276:immunology* / Q000517:prevention & control*; D054406:Pseudomonas Vaccines / Q000276:immunology*; D011550:Pseudomonas aeruginosa / Q000187:drug effects / Q000276:immunology*; D014611:Vaccination; D018074:Vaccines, Conjugate / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000276:immunology
chemical_list: D000464:Alginates; D000907:Antibodies, Bacterial; D006603:Hexuronic Acids; D007074:Immunoglobulin G; D054406:Pseudomonas Vaccines; D018074:Vaccines, Conjugate; D020723:Glucuronic Acid
keywords: Pseudomonas aeruginosa; alginate; conjugate vaccine