The emergence of non-vaccine serotypes of after the use of vaccines based in capsular polysaccharides demonstrates the need of a broader protection vaccine based in protein antigens and widely conserved. In this study, we characterized three important virulence factors of namely LytA, LytC, and Pce as vaccine candidates. These proteins are choline-binding proteins that belong to the cell wall hydrolases' family.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFKnowledge-based vaccinology can reveal uncharacterized antigen candidates for a new generation of protein-based anti-pneumococcal vaccines. DiiA, encoded by the sp_1992 locus, is a surface protein containing either one or two repeats of a 37mer N-terminal motif that exhibits low interstrain variability. DiiA belongs to the core proteome, contains several conserved B-cell epitopes, and is associated with colonization and pathogenesis.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAim: To test the synergistic effect of Cpl-711 endolysin and antibiotics for antipneumococcal activity.
Materials & Methods: A combination of Cpl-711 and different antibiotics (amoxicillin, cefotaxime, levofloxacin and vancomycin) was tested in a checkerboard assay against several multidrug-resistant Streptococcus pneumoniae strains. Mouse and zebrafish models of pneumococcal sepsis were used to confirm the in vitro data.
Bacteriophage-borne lytic enzymes, also named lysins or enzybiotics, are efficient agents for the killing of bacterial pathogens. The colonization of the respiratory tract by is a prerequisite for the establishment of the infection process. Hence, we have evaluated the antibacterial activities of three different lysins against pneumococcal colonization using human nasopharyngeal and lung epithelial cells as well as a mouse model of nasopharyngeal colonization.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe cell wall glucosaminidase LytB of Streptococcus pneumoniae is a surface exposed protein involved in daughter cell separation, biofilm formation and contributes to different aspects of the pathogenesis process. In this study we have characterized the antibody responses after immunization of mice with LytB in the presence of alhydrogel as an adjuvant. Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays measuring different subclasses of immunoglobulin G, demonstrated that the antibody responses to LytB were predominantly IgG1 and IgG2b, followed by IgG3 and IgG2a subclasses.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFCapsular switching allows pre-existing clones of Streptococcus pneumoniae expressing vaccine serotypes to escape the vaccine-induced immunity by acquisition of capsular genes from pneumococci of a non-vaccine serotype. Here, we have analysed the clonal composition of 492 clinical isolates of serotype 11A causing invasive disease in Spain (2000-2012), and their ability to evade the host immune response. Antibiograms, serotyping and molecular typing were performed.
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