Attenuated nontoxinogenic and nonencapsulated recombinant Bacillus anthracis spore vaccines protect against anthrax.
Article Details
- CitationCopy to clipboard
Cohen S, Mendelson I, Altboum Z, Kobiler D, Elhanany E, Bino T, Leitner M, Inbar I, Rosenberg H, Gozes Y, Barak R, Fisher M, Kronman C, Velan B, Shafferman A
Attenuated nontoxinogenic and nonencapsulated recombinant Bacillus anthracis spore vaccines protect against anthrax.
Infect Immun. 2000 Aug;68(8):4549-58.
- PubMed ID
- 10899854 [ View in PubMed]
- Abstract
Several highly attenuated spore-forming nontoxinogenic and nonencapsulated Bacillus anthracis vaccines differing in levels of expression of recombinant protective antigen (rPA) were constructed. Biochemical analyses (including electrospray mass spectroscopy and N terminus amino acid sequencing) as well as biological and immunological tests demonstrated that the rPA retains the characteristics of native PA. A single immunization of guinea pigs with 5 x 10(7) spores of one of these recombinant strains, MASC-10, expressing high levels of rPA (>/=100 microgram/ml) from a constitutive heterologous promoter induced high titers of neutralizing anti-PA antibodies. This immune response was long lasting (at least 12 months) and provided protection against a lethal challenge of virulent (Vollum) anthrax spores. The recombinant B. anthracis spore vaccine appears to be more efficacious than the vegetative cell vaccine. Furthermore, while results clearly suggest a direct correlation between the level of expression of PA and the potency of the vaccine, they also suggest that some B. anthracis spore-associated antigen(s) may contribute in a significant manner to protective immunity.