title: Immunogenicity and protective efficacy of Clostridium difficile spore proteins.
abstract: Clostridium difficile is a spore-forming, anaerobic, Gram-positive organism that is the leading cause of antibiotic-associated infectious diarrhea, commonly known as C. difficile infection (CDI). C. difficile spores play an important role in the pathogenesis of CDI. Spore proteins, especially those that are surface-bound may play an essential role in the germination, colonization and persistence of C. difficile in the human gut. In our current study, we report the identification of two surface-bound spore proteins, CdeC and CdeM that may be utilized as immunization candidates against C. difficile. These spore proteins are immunogenic in mice and are able to protect mice against challenge with C. difficile UK1, a clinically-relevant 027/B1/NAP1 strain. These spore proteins are also able to afford high levels of protection against challenge with C. difficile 630Δerm in golden Syrian hamsters. This unprecedented study shows the vaccination potential of C. difficile spore exosporium proteins.
authors.affiliation: Aaron Diamond AIDS Research Center, New York, NY, USA. Electronic address: cghose@adarc.org.
authors.forename: Chandrabali
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Ghose
authors.affiliation: Aaron Diamond AIDS Research Center, New York, NY, USA.
authors.forename: Ioannis
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Eugenis
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Emory Antibiotic Resistance Center, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, GA, USA.
authors.forename: Adrianne N
authors.initials: AN
authors.lastname: Edwards
authors.affiliation: Department of Molecular Medicine, Morsani School of Medicine, University of South Florida, Tampa, FL, USA.
authors.forename: Xingmin
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Sun
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Emory Antibiotic Resistance Center, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, GA, USA.
authors.forename: Shonna M
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: McBride
authors.affiliation: Aaron Diamond AIDS Research Center, New York, NY, USA; Rockefeller University, New York, NY, USA.
authors.forename: David D
authors.initials: DD
authors.lastname: Ho
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001426:Bacterial Proteins / Q000276:immunology*; D001428:Bacterial Vaccines / Q000276:immunology*; D016360:Clostridioides difficile / Q000276:immunology*; D005260:Female; D008297:Male; D008647:Mesocricetus; D051379:Mice; D008810:Mice, Inbred C57BL; D013171:Spores, Bacterial / Q000276:immunology*; D014614:Vaccines, Synthetic / Q000276:immunology
chemical_list: D001426:Bacterial Proteins; D001428:Bacterial Vaccines; D014614:Vaccines, Synthetic
keywords: BclA1; CdeC; CdeM; Clostridium difficile; CotA; Exosporium; Spores; Vaccine