A glucan-particle based tularemia subunit vaccine induces T-cell immunity and affords partial protection in an inhalation rat infection model.

Tularemia is a zoonotic disease caused by the facultative intracellular gram-negative bacterium Francisella tularensis. F. tularensis has a very low infection dose by the aerosol route which can result in an acute, and potentially lethal, infection in humans.

Potential human immunotherapeutics for plague.

Two monoclonal antibodies directed to the V antigen of have been tested for protective efficacy in a murine model of bubonic plague. Mice were infected with a current clinical isolate from Madagascar, designated 10-21/S. Mab7.

Predictors of Survival after Vaccination in a Pneumonic Plague Model.

The need for an updated plague vaccine is highlighted by outbreaks in endemic regions together with the pandemic potential of this disease. There is no easily available, approved vaccine. Here we have used a murine model of pneumonic plague to examine the factors that maximise immunogenicity and contribute to survival following vaccination.

Protection induced by a Francisella tularensis subunit vaccine delivered by glucan particles.

Francisella tularensis is an intracellular pathogen causing the disease tularemia, and an organism of concern to biodefence. There is no licensed vaccine available. Subunit approaches have failed to induce protection, which requires both humoral and cellular immune memory responses, and have been hampered by a lack of understanding as to which antigens are immunoprotective.

CD4+ T-cell immunity to the Burkholderia pseudomallei ABC transporter LolC in melioidosis.

Burkholderia pseudomallei causes melioidosis, a disease with a wide range of possible outcomes, from seroconversion and dormancy to sepsis and death. This spectrum of host-pathogen interactions poses challenging questions about the heterogeneity in immunity to B. pseudomallei.

Identification of a LolC homologue in Burkholderia pseudomallei, a novel protective antigen for melioidosis.

Melioidosis is an emerging disease of humans in Southeast Asia and tropical Australia. The bacterium causing this disease, Burkholderia pseudomallei, is also considered a bioterrorism agent, and as yet there is no licensed vaccine for preventing B. pseudomallei infection.

Oral administration of a Salmonella enterica-based vaccine expressing Bacillus anthracis protective antigen confers protection against aerosolized B. anthracis.

Bacillus anthracis is the causative agent of anthrax, a disease that affects wildlife, livestock, and humans. Protection against anthrax is primarily afforded by immunity to the B. anthracis protective antigen (PA), particularly PA domains 4 and 1.

The identification and evaluation of ATP binding cassette systems in the intracellular bacterium Francisella tularensis.

Francisella tularensis is a facultative intracellular bacterium responsible for the disease tularemia. Analysis of the fully sequenced genome of the virulent F. tularensis strain SCHU S4 has led to the identification of twenty ATP binding cassette (ABC) systems, of which five appear to be non-functional.

A recombinant carboxy-terminal domain of the protective antigen of Bacillus anthracis protects mice against anthrax infection.

The immunogenicity and protective efficacy of overlapping regions of the protective antigen (PA) polypeptide, cloned and expressed as glutathione S-transferase fusion proteins, have been assessed. Results show that protection can be attributed to individual domains and imply that it is domain 4 which contains the dominant protective epitopes of PA.