The respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) prefusion F-protein functional antibody repertoire in adult healthy donors.

Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) is the leading cause of death from lower respiratory tract infection in infants and children, and is responsible for considerable morbidity and mortality in older adults. Vaccines for pregnant women and elderly which are in phase III clinical studies target people with pre-existing natural immunity against RSV. To investigate the background immunity which will be impacted by vaccination, we single cell-sorted human memory B cells and dissected functional and genetic features of neutralizing antibodies (nAbs) induced by natural infection.

The respiratory syncytial virus fusion protein-specific B cell receptor repertoire reshaped by post-fusion subunit vaccination.

Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) is the major cause of acute lower respiratory illness in children of less than 5 years of age which usually results in hospitalization or even in death. Vaccine development is hampered in consequence of a failed vaccine trial with fatalities in the 1960s. Even though research has been more focused on the RSV fusion protein in its pre-fusion conformation, maternal vaccination with post-fusion protein (post F) was considered as a promising vaccine strategy for passive immunization of babies, because post F preserves very potent neutralizing epitopes.

Immunological fingerprint of 4CMenB recombinant antigens via protein microarray reveals key immunosignatures correlating with bactericidal activity.

Serogroup B meningococcus (MenB) is a leading cause of meningitis and sepsis across the world and vaccination is the most effective way to protect against this disease. 4CMenB is a multi-component vaccine against MenB, which is now licensed for use in subjects >2 months of age in several countries. In this study, we describe the development and use of an ad hoc protein microarray to study the immune response induced by the three major 4CMenB antigenic components (fHbp, NHBA and NadA) in individual sera from vaccinated infants, adolescents and adults.

In-silico prediction and deep-DNA sequencing validation indicate phase variation in 115 Neisseria meningitidis genes.

Background: The Neisseria meningitidis (Nm) chromosome shows a high abundance of simple sequence DNA repeats (SSRs) that undergo stochastic, reversible mutations at high frequency. This mechanism is reflected in an extensive phenotypic diversity that facilitates Nm adaptation to dynamic environmental changes. To date, phase-variable phenotypes mediated by SSRs variation have been experimentally confirmed for 26 Nm genes.