Evaluation of the MalX and PrsA antigens for the development of vaccines against Streptococcus pneumoniae

• Grant number: 24/08697-5
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Master
• Start date: January 01, 2025
• End date: December 31, 2026
• Field of knowledge: Biological Sciences - Microbiology - Applied Microbiology
• Principal Investigator: Maria Leonor Sarno de Oliveira
• Grantee: Katharyne Chinaia
• Host Institution: Instituto Butantan. Secretaria da Saúde (São Paulo - Estado). São Paulo , SP, Brazil

Abstract

Streptococcus pneumoniae (pneumococus) is a very important bacteria in public health. Pneumococcal diseases, including sinusitis, otitis media, pneumonia, septicemia and meningitis are responsible for the death of approximately 800,000 people worldwide annually. These deaths occur predominantly in children younger than 5 years old and the elderly, mainly in developing countries. High expenses with medical care and hospital internalizations are observed in developed countries. The available vaccines are composed of polysaccharides from up to 20 serotypes prevalent in the diseases, among more than one hundred described serotypes. Despite the high efficacy of these vaccines against invasive pneumococcal infections, immunity is restricted to the strains present in the formulations. Formulations composed of pneumococcal protein antigens are important alternatives for the development of universal vaccines against pneumococci, conferring type-independent immunity. PspA and PspC are among the most important protein antigens, that confer protection against invasive pneumococcal infection in animal models. Recently, data from our group indicate that the lipoproteins MalX and PrsA can play an important role in colonization of the respiratory tract by pneumococci, and, consequently, are also interesting for the composition of new vaccines. This project aims to study the importance of these antigens during pneumococcal infection in animal models and evaluate their potential as vaccine antigens.