Characterization of two affinity matured Anti-Yersinia pestis F1 human antibodies with medical countermeasure potential.

Yersinia pestis, the causative agent of plague and a biological threat agent, presents an urgent need for novel medical countermeasures due to documented cases of naturally acquired antibiotic resistance and potential person-to-person spread during a pneumonic infection. Immunotherapy has been proposed as a way to circumvent current and future antibiotic resistance. Here, we describe the development and characterization of two affinity matured human antibodies (αF1Ig AM2 and αF1Ig AM8) that promote survival of mice after exposure to aerosolized Y.

The rLVS Δ/ vaccine provides potent protection in Fischer rats against inhalational tularemia caused by various virulent strains.

is one of the several biothreat agents for which a licensed vaccine is needed. To ensure vaccine protection is achieved across a range of virulent strains, we assembled and characterized a panel of isolates to be utilized as challenge strains. A promising tularemia vaccine candidate is rLVS Δ/ (rLVS), in which the vector is the LVS strain with a deletion in the gene and which additionally expresses a fusion protein comprising immunodominant epitopes of proteins IglA, IglB, and IglC.

Functional assays to screen and select monoclonal antibodies that target .

is a gram-negative bacterium that causes plague in animals and humans. Depending on the route of disease transmission, the bacterium can cause an acute, often fatal disease that has a narrow window for treatment with antibiotics. Additionally, antibiotic resistant strains have been identified, emphasizing the need for novel treatments.

Polyclonal Antibodies Derived from Transchromosomic Bovines Vaccinated with the Recombinant F1-V Vaccine Increase Bacterial Opsonization In Vitro and Protect Mice from Pneumonic Plague.

Plague is an ancient disease that continues to be of concern to both the public health and biodefense research communities. Pneumonic plague is caused by hematogenous spread of bacteria from a ruptured bubo to the lungs or by directly inhaling aerosolized bacteria. The fatality rate associated with pneumonic plague is significant unless effective antibiotic therapy is initiated soon after an early and accurate diagnosis is made.