Analysis of cellular immune responses induced in the lungs by mouse immunization with pneumococcal hybrid vaccines including PspA and Ply

• Grant number: 14/01115-9
• Support type: Regular Research Grants
• Duration: June 01, 2014 - May 31, 2016
• Field of knowledge: Health Sciences - Collective Health - Preventive Medicine
• Principal Investigator: Michelle Darrieux Sampaio Bertoncini
• Grantee: Michelle Darrieux Sampaio Bertoncini
• Home Institution: Universidade São Francisco (USF). Campus Bragança Paulista. Bragança Paulista , SP, Brazil

Abstract

Streptococcus pneumoniae is responsible for millions of deaths annually from infections as pneumonia, meningitis e septicemia. The current pneumococcal vaccines are based on capsular polysaccharides, and display low coverage and high production costs. Therefore, several pneumococcal proteins have been investigated as potential vaccine candidates. Among these proteins, PspA and Pneumolisin (PLY) have demonstrated the most promising results. The co-administration of PspA and PLY induced significant protection against systemic pneumococcal challenge and lobar pneumonia in mice, combining the high immunogenicity of PspA with the adjuvant potential of PLY. Recently, our group demonstrated that a hybrid protein, produced by genetic fusion of PspA and PLY, induced protection in mice against pneumococcal sepsis, which correlated with an increased complement deposition on the bacterial surface in vitro, indicating that antibodies play an important role in this model of infection. However, the contribution of cellular immune responses to the protection induced by these vaccines has not been investigates. Therefore, the present study proposes an evaluation of the cellular immune response induced in the lungs of mice immunized with the hydrid PspA-PLY protein, and the contribution of this response to protection in a model of lobar pneumonia. (AU)

Scientific publications

(References retrieved automatically from Web of Science and SciELO through information on FAPESP grants and their corresponding numbers as mentioned in the publications by the authors)

ANDRE, GREICIELY O.; CONVERSO, THIAGO R.; POLITANO, WALTER R.; FERRAZ, LUCIO F. C.; RIBEIRO, MARCELO L.; LEITE, LUCIANA C. C.; DARRIEUX, MICHELLE. Role of Streptococcus pneumoniae Proteins in Evasion of Complement-Mediated Immunity. FRONTIERS IN MICROBIOLOGY, v. 8, FEB 20 2017. Web of Science Citations: 16.