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Category: Bacterial Pathogenesis; Immunology
Protein Vaccines, Page 1 of 2
< Previous page | Next page > /docserver/preview/fulltext/10.1128/9781555815820/9781555814083_Chap28-1.gif /docserver/preview/fulltext/10.1128/9781555815820/9781555814083_Chap28-2.gifAbstract:
The development, manufacture, and administration of pneumococcal polysaccharide vaccine (PPSV) and pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (PCV) have provided significant public health benefit, and these vaccines continue to be important tools in the battle against the pneumococcus. The serotypes that are weak immunogens are also more often associated with antibiotic resistance. If such common-protein vaccines are successfully developed, they could have a number of advantages over the currently available capsular polysaccharide (PS)-based vaccines. The injection of purified pneumolysin (Ply) into rat lungs induces severe lobar pneumonia, indistinguishable histologically from that seen when virulent pneumococci are injected. Pneumococcal surface protein A (PspA) is one of the best-characterized members of the choline-binding protein (CBP) family and has strong credentials as a vaccine antigen. It is found on the surfaces of all pneumococci and has a proven role in the pathogenesis of disease, as evidenced by the significantly reduced virulence of defined PspA-negative pneumococci in animal models. Studies of the vaccine potential of PspA have extended to human trials, and immune sera from volunteers immunized with a family 1 PspA fragment reacted with 37 different Streptococcus pneumoniae strains belonging to diverse capsular and PspA types. The immunization of mice with pneumococcal surface protein C (PspC) is highly protective against intravenous or intraperitoneal challenge with S. pneumoniae. One study has shown that parenteral immunization of mice with purified PsaA in the presence of strong adjuvants elicits significant protection against systemic challenge with S. pneumoniae.
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