Compositions Produced Using Enteric Pathogens and Methods of Use
The present invention provides compositions including polypeptides having the characteristics of polypeptides expressed by a reference microbe such E. coli or Salmonella. Examples of Salmonella strains that can be used include, for instance, S. enterica serovar Newport, S. enterica serovar Enteritidis, S. enterica serovar Typhimurium, and S. enterica serovar Dublin. Also provided are compositions including polypeptides having a particular molecular weight and a mass fingerprint that includes polypeptide fragments having a particular set of masses, or polypeptides having an amino acid sequence with at least about 95% identity with an amino acid sequence, wherein the polypeptide has seroreactive activity. The present invention also provides methods of making and methods of using such compositions.
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This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/504,119, filed Sep. 19, 2003, which is incorporated by reference in its entirety.
BACKGROUNDThe transmission of enteric pathogens to human populations by the consumption of contaminated food and water has become a world wide concern. Surveillance data compiled by the World Health Organization estimate that gastrointestinal infections and their sequelae result in approximately 4 million to 6 million deaths annually. More than 80% of these cases are among children under the age of five with mortality reaching 4 million. The majority of these deaths are in children less than 2 years of age. In the United States, diarrhea is the second most common infectious illness, accounting for one out of every six infectious diseases. In some developing countries, children have more than 12 episodes of diarrhea per year and diarrheal diseases account for 15 to 34 percent of all deaths.
In the United States food/waterborne diseases cause approximately 76 million illnesses, 325,000 hospitalizations, and 5000 deaths each year. More than 90% of the foodborne illnesses of known causes are of microbial origin. Costs associated with medical expenses and losses in productivity associated with microbial agents are estimated to be between $5.6 and $9.4 billion dollars annually. The most commonly recognized food/borne pathogens contributing to gastrointestinal infections have been shown to be bacteria (e.g., Salmonella spp., Escherichia coli, Shigella spp., and Vibrio spp.).
The virulence and pathogenesis of enteric pathogens involves both bast and pathogen specific factors. Many pathogen-specific virulence determinants contribute to the pathogenesis of these bacteria. The bacterial virulence of these bacteria is the result of many different attributes, which often contribute to different steps in the complicated series of events we recognize as an infection. Infection occurs primarily by the consumption of contaminated water, food or by direct person to person contact. Once ingested the stages of infection common to enteric pathogens can include attachment, colonization, proliferation, tissue damage, invasion and dissemination. Less frequently, enteric pathogens can produce a bacteremic condition inducing reactive arthritis, kidney failure, Guillian-Barre, Reiter syndrome and other extra-intestinal symptoms.
The first host barrier that enteric pathogens must overcome is the mucosal surface. A single epithelial cell layer separates the host from the lumen of the gastrointestinal tract. This barrier and a plethora of other host antimicrobial mechanisms deter commensal, opportunistic and pathogenic microorganisms from establishing infection. Enteric pathogens have evolved some elaborate pathogenic strategies to attach, invade and translocate across the gut epithelium to cause infection. Adherence to mucosal surfaces is a prerequisite of most enteric pathogens to establish infection. In its simplest form adherence or attachment requires two factors: a receptor and an adhesin. A number of specialized structures (adhesins) have been identified in enteric pathogens that enhance intestinal colonization of the organism. These specialized structures (e.g., pili or fimbriae) act as ligands to bind the bacterial cell to specific complex carbohydrate receptors on the epithelial cell surface of the intestine. Once colonization is established enteric pathogens have a multitude of virulence factors that enhance the ability of the pathogen to invade its host. One of the more pronounced clinical manifestations of intestinal colonization is diarrhea. This clinical syndrome is typically induced by the synthesis and excretion of a variety of enterotoxins, (e.g., heat-labile toxin (LT), heat-stable toxin (ST) cholera toxin (CT) and shiga toxin (Stx)) that cause a net secretion of fluid and electrolytes (diarrhea). Many other specific virulence factors of enteric pathogens have been described that affect a wide range of eukaryotic cell processes in the host, to including invasion of specific cell types, cell to cell interactions and signal transduction by integrins, attaching and effacing with destruction of the epithelial surface, elaboration of exotoxins, and actin polymerization enhancing cell to cell spread, etc.
The diversity of enteric pathogens and virulence factors has complicated the development of new and improved vaccines with long lasting protection. The search for a better vaccine is prompted by the results of epidemiological and challenge studies showing that the recovery from natural infection is often followed by long lasting immunity while providing cross-protection against multiple strains and/or serotypes.
Current vaccines under development for such enteric pathogens as Vibrio cholera, Escherichia coli, Salmonella, and Shigella are based on parenteral and oral vaccines. Moderately effective vaccines have been tested and implemented for controlling cholera. The oral vaccines currently under development include two types: killed Vibrio cholera bacteria that are combined with purified cholera B subunit toxin, and live-attenuated strains of V. cholera with known genetic deletions (Butterton et al., Infect. Immun. 65: 2127-2135). Field trials sponsored by The World Health Organization using an oral vaccine consisting of a whole-cell B subunit reported levels of only 50% protection in human populations in underdeveloped countries. The vaccine required multiple doses over a four month period; unfortunately, young children were not well protected (Sack et al. Infect. Immun. 66:1968-1972 (1998); Sanchez et al, Lancet. 349: 1825-1830 (1997); and Trach et al. Lancet. 349: 231-235 (1997)). A whole-cell vaccine containing four common isolates of V. choleraa not containing B subunit toxin has also been tested in human subjects that showed a protective efficacy of 65% (Taylor et al. Infect. Immun. 65: 3852-3856 (1997)). A whole-cell vaccine containing four common isolates of cholera not containing B subunit toxin has also been tested in human subjects (Taylor et al. Infect. Immun. 65: 3852-3856 (1997)). The vaccine required two administrations 7-14 days apart and induced a protective index of approximately 65%. However, the vaccine was not well tolerated due to its reactive nature upon injection. Several live-attenuated vaccine candidates have been tested in large scale efficacy trials involving more than 60,000 human subjects. Unfortunately, the results of this pivotal trial did not demonstrate the effectiveness of the vaccine in preventing cholera. Further development in live attenuated gene deleted vaccines has recently shown promise against the 01 and 0139 serotypes in human volunteers. However, efficacy of the vaccine in large populations and protection against multiple serotypes have yet to be demonstrated.
There are five categories of diarrheagenic Escherichia coli that cause foodborne and waterborne diseases in humans: the enteropathogenic (EPEC), enterohemorrhagic (EHEC), enterotoxigenic (ETEC), enteroinvasive (EIEC) and enteroaggregative (EAEC) strains. The mechanism of disease associated with these pathogens depends on specific characteristics which involve attaching and effacing adherence of the organism to intestinal epithelial cells and damage to the intestinal microvilli. Of particular interest has been the emergence of the Shiga toxin-producing E. coli, also referred to as EHEC, primarily of the O157:H7 serotype. This strain of E. coli has been shown to synthesize either one or both of the Shiga toxins (Stx-1 and/or Stx-2). This strain has been associated with gastrointestinal infections that begin with diarrhea that can exasperate into hemorrhagic colitis, followed by hemolytic-uremic syndrome (HUS) and/or encephalopathy, particularly in the young, immunocompromized, and elderly adults. The Shiga toxin (Stx) produced by this isolate is believed to be important in the pathogenesis of this organism. Current efforts at vaccine development are primarily focused on animals known to asymptomatically carry these organisms and shed them in their feces. Research has focused on a number of strategies for controlling this organism, which revolve around the concept of preventing colonization by targeting the colonization factor intimin, and immunization of animals with genetically modified non-toxin producing versions of the parent isolate. The intimin protein has been shown to be responsible for the attaching and effacing lesions also characteristic of both Shigella dysenteriae (STEC) and the enteropathogenic (EPEC) strains of E. coli. In addition, researchers have been investigating the expression of intimin in animal feed products such as canola and alfalfa for use as an edible animal vaccine. If any of these strategies work in animals it could find its way to human usage (Acheson et al. Infect. Immun. 64: 355-357 (1996); Bokete et al. J. Infect. Dis. 175: 1382-1389 (1997); Bosworth et al. Infect. Immun. 64:55-60 (1996) and Konadu et al. Infect. Immun. 62: 5048-5054 (1964)).
The National Institute of Child Health and Human development have proposed the use of conjugate vaccines using the B-subunit of Stx-1 in conjunction with a whole cell as developed for V. cholerae, which has shown promising results in experimental animal models as well as toxoids and immunotherapeutics using antitoxin antibodies as well as human monoclonal antibodies to neutralize the Stx-1 and Stx-2 toxin. Such prophylactic and immunotherapeutic strategies could protect against STEC infection as well as infections caused by closely related organisms such as EPEC and EHEC strains of E. coli.
Enterotoxigenic (ETEC) strains of E. coli are an important cause of diarrhea in infants in less developed countries. It is estimated that ETEC causes more than 650 million cases of diarrhea per year and more than 800,000 deaths in children less than 5 years of age. EIEC is also the major cause of traveler's diarrhea, which affects at least 8 million United States citizens who travel to endemic regions of the world each year. Virulence factors associated with these strains of E. coli include primarily adhesins and enterotoxins such as LTI, STa and STb. In volunteer studies infection with ETEC generates protective immunity against rechallenge with the same strain. The vaccine candidate currently being developed consists of a mixture of five formalin-inactivated ETEC strains, which together express the required adhesins, combined with a recombinant Cholera toxin B subunit, which generates antibody that cross-reacts with the ETEC-LT toxin. Clinical studies have shown that the vaccine is immunogenic and safe in human volunteers.
Shigella spp. such as S. sonnei, S. flexneri, S. boydii and S. dysenteriae are causative agents of shigellosis or bacillary dysentery. In the United States approximately 13,000 cases of shigellosis were reported in 2002, a 22% increase from 2001 (CDC, Shigella Annual Summary 2002). Nearly 30% of the reported cases occurred in children under the age of five. The mechanism of disease associated with these pathogens is characterized by specific attaching and effacing lesions involving microvilli destruction, and the production of potent exotoxins (Shiga toxin) that frequently results in hemolytic uremic syndrome. A virulence plasmid present in all invasive Shigella strains has been identified that encode a number of outer membrane proteins that mediate attachment to the epithelial cell. Several of the plasmid-encoded proteins initiate parasite-induced phagocytosis which in turn breaks down the membrane of the phagocytic vacuole, allowing bacteria to multiply within the cytoplasm.
Vaccine strategies created to control shigellosis have focused on attenuated strains with known genetic deletions. A deletion mutant of S. flexneri has shown excellent protection after a single oral dose. This vaccine candidate provides protection against severe shigellosis in volunteers challenged with S. flexneri. Other vaccine strategies include the development of auxotrophic mutants and recent studies have shown protection using O-specific polysaccharides conjugates from S. sonnei and S. flexneri. As with many of these diseases a comprehensive vaccine approach to controlling shigellosis must include various bacterial components to protect against the multiple serotypes of Shigella that are responsible for endemic outbreaks of dysentery (Ashkenazi et al., J. Infect. Immun. 179: 1565-1568 (1999); Cohen et al., Lancet. 349: 155-159 (1997); Coster et al., Infect. Immun. 67: 3437-3437 (1999); Kotloff et al., infect Immun. 64: 4542-4548 (1996) and Sansonetti et al., Res. Immunol. 147:595-602 (1996)).
Salmonella infections are the leading cause of bacterial foodborne diseases worldwide and are one of the most common enteric diseases in the United States. There are approximately 2,213 different Salmonella strains currently identified which can be classified according to their adaptation to human and animal hosts. For instance, S. typhi and S. paratyphi causes enteric or typhoid fever only in humans and globally infect 20-30 million people annually and cause 600,000 deaths. In the United States, more than 41,000 cases were reported in 1993 with the highest incidence being in children 5 to 19 years of age. Non-typhoidal Salmonella enterica is one of the most common causes of food poisoning in the United States, responsible for an estimated 1.4 million cases of salmonellosis annually (Mead et al. Emerg. Infect. Dis. 5:607-625 (1999)). The cost of human salmonellosis in the U.S. is estimated to be several billion dollars annually based on healthcare costs and lost productivity.
There has been a number of virulence factors associated with disease caused by Salmonella. Briefly, the pathogenesis of the organism begins with the colonization of the host followed by localized degeneration of the epithelial surface resulting in penetration of the epithelial barrier and proliferation in the lamina propria, multiplication, and stimulation of an inflammatory response. Diarrhea associated with salmonellosis is associated primarily with the inflammatory response, which stimulates the release of prostaglandins and production of cAMP, which increase the secretion of fluid and electrolytes into the lumen of the bowel (diarrhea).
A number of parenteral whole-cell vaccines for typhoid fever have been developed but have been found to be only marginally effective because of severe adverse reactions in vaccinates. Currently the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development has developed and tested a vaccine consisting of the Vi antigen. Clinical trials have demonstrated an efficacy of 72-80% with a single injection. A number of gene deleted mutants have been developed for controlling S. typhi with varying degrees of success (Germanier et al. J. Infect. D is 131:553-558 (1975); Hohmann et al. J. Infect. Dis. 173:1408-1414 (1996); Nardelli-Haefliger et al. Infect. Immun. 64:5219-5224 (1996); Stocker et al. Vaccine. 6:141-145 (1988); Szu et al. Infect. Immun. 62: 4440-4444 (1964); Tacket et al. Infect Immun. 60: 536-541 (1992); and Tacket et al. Vaccine. 10: 443-446 (1992)).
The remaining Salmonella strains commonly referred to as nontyphoidal are primarily transmitted from animals to humans (Calnek et al., Diseases of Poultry-9th ed., pp. 99-130, Iowa StateUniversity, Ames Iowa (1991)). In the United States, the most common serotypes of S. enterica isolated from humans are serotypes Typhimurium, Enteritidis, and Newport (CDC Salmonella Annual Summary, 2002). These three serotypes accounted for 51% of human Salmonella isolates in 2002. Notably, the serotypes Typhimurium and Newport are frequently resistant to multiple antibiotics. In a 2001 annual survey, 53% of Typhimurium isolates were resistant to at least one antibiotic and 30% were resistant to five antibiotics in a manner characteristic of the DT104 phage type (CDC National Antimicrobial Resistance Monitoring System:Enteric Bacteria, available at www.cdc.gov/narms/). In addition, 26% of Newport isolates were resistant to at least nine antibiotics in the 2001 annual survey. The Typhimurium and Newport serotypes are primarily associated with the consumption of a variety of different types of animal products that become contaminated during processing or handling. In contrast, Salmonella serotype Enteritidis is almost exclusively associated with the consumption of contaminated chicken eggs. This serotype has a propensity to colonize poultry ovarian tissues for extended periods of time (Okamura et al., Avian Dis., 45: 61-69 (2001) and Okamura et al., Avian Dis., 45: 962-971 (2001)), and can gain entry to the egg environment by vertical transmission during egg formation (Gast et al., Avian Dis. 44: 706-710 (2000) and Humphrey et al., Int. J. Food Microbiol. 21: 31-40 (1994)). A recent risk assessment estimated that 2.3 million eggs are contaminated in the United States annually, resulting in approximately 660,000 human infections (Hope et al., Risk Anal., 22:203-218 (2002)). Additional serotypes that have been associated with human salmonellosis derived from poultry and other animals include S. enterica Heidelberg, Hadar, Infantis, Agona, Montevideo, Thompson, and Braenderup.
Research for controlling nontyphoidal Salmonella has been primarily limited to the bacterins, which consist of killed Salmonella cells, and the live attenuated strains of Salmonella. Bacterins typically stimulate antibody responses in vaccinated animals but may be limited in their ability to promote cell-mediated immunity (Babu et al., Vet. Immunol. Immunopathol. 91:39-44 (2003) and Okamura et al., Comp. Immunol. Microbiol. Infect. Dis. 27:255-272 (2004)), an important host response for effective clearance of Salmonella (Lalmanach and Lantier. Microbes Infect. 1:719-726 (1999) and Naiki et al., J. Immunol. 163:2057-2063 (1999)). In addition, bacterins have generally produced inconsistent protection against fecal shedding of Salmonella (House et al., Am. J. Vet. Res. 12: 1897-1902 (2001) and Davison et al., Avian Dis. 43:664-669 (1999)). Other disadvantages of bacterins include injection-site granulomas, weight loss, and serotype-specific protection. The live attenuated Salmonella vaccines are generally considered to provide better cross-protection than observed with the bacterins (Hassan and Curtiss, I I I. Infect. Immun. 62:5519-5527. (1994)), and additionally stimulate both humoral and cell-mediated immune responses (Curtiss, I I I et al., Vet Microbiol. 37:397-405 (1993) and Villarreal-Ramos et al., Vaccine 16: 45-54 (1998)). However, there are significant obstacles regarding the safety of introducing these organisms into commercial animals; specifically, there is concern that genetic reversion will occur and render the vaccine strain virulent. A second potential problem with using modified live vaccines is that antibodies generated to the somatic antigen of the vaccination strains can interfere with national and state Salmonella monitoring programs by generating false positive reactions. In addition, antibiotics are often administered in commercial flocks to control infection rates which can eliminate the attenuated vaccine strain; hence, repeated immunizations of live Salmonella vaccines are often required. There have been relatively few attempts to formulate subcellular vaccines for controlling Salmonella in agricultural animals. A few key studies in poultry species utilized crude cell extracts in their vaccinations, showing S. Enteritidis-specific mucosal and/or circulating antibody responses (Fukutome et al., Dev. Comp. Immunol. 25:475-484 (2001) and Ochoa-Reparaz et al., Vet. Res. 35:291-298 (2004)). In other studies, purified outer membrane protein compositions were demonstrated to promote heightened antibody responses and reduced intestinal colonization or fecal shedding following challenge with S. Enteritidis (Charles et al., Am. J. Vet. Res. 55:636-642 (1994), Khan et al., J. Appl. Microbiol. 95:142-145 (2003), and Meenakshi et al., Vet. Res. Commun. 23:81-90 (1999)).
SUMMARYThe present invention provides compositions including a polypeptide having the characteristics of a polypeptide expressed by a reference microbe. The characteristics of the polypeptide include both molecular weight and mass fingerprint. The reference microbe may be, for instance, an E. coli or a Salmonella. Examples of Salmonella strains that can be used include, for instance, S. enterica serovar Newport, S. enterica serovar Enteritidis, S. enterica serovar Typhimurium, and S. enterica serovar Dublin. Preferably, the reference polypeptide is expressed by the microbe during growth in low metal conditions. The present invention also provides compositions including a polypeptide having a particular molecular weight and a mass fingerprint that includes polypeptide fragments having a particular set of masses. The present invention further provides compositions including a polypeptide having an amino acid sequence with at least about 95% identity with a reference amino acid sequence, wherein the polypeptide has seroreactive activity.
The compositions of the present invention may optionally include a pharmaceutically acceptable carrier. The present invention also includes methods for using the polypeptides disclosed herein. Methods include inducing the production of antibody in an animal, treating a gram negative microbial infection in an animal, and decreasing intestinal colonization of an animal.
The present invention provides polypeptides and compositions including polypeptides. As used herein, “polypeptide” refers to a polymer of amino acids linked by peptide bonds. Thus, for example, the terms peptide, oligopeptide, protein, and enzyme are included within the definition of polypeptide. This term also includes post-expression modifications of the polypeptide, for example, glycosylations, acetylations, phosphorylations, and the like. The term polypeptide does not connote a specific length of a polymer of amino acids. A polypeptide may be obtainable directly from a natural source, or can be prepared with the aid of recombinant, enzymatic, or chemical techniques. In the case of a polypeptide that is naturally occurring, such polypeptide is typically isolated. An “isolated” polypeptide is one that has been removed from its natural environment. For instance, an isolated polypeptide is a polypeptide that has been removed from the cytoplasm or from the outer membrane of a cell, and many of the polypeptides, nucleic acids, and other cellular material of its natural environment are no longer present. A “purified” polypeptide is one that is at least 60% free, preferably 75% free, and most preferably 90% free from other components with which they are naturally associated. Polypeptides that are produced outside the organism in which they naturally occur, e.g., through chemical or recombinant means, are considered to be isolated and purified by definition, since they were never present in a natural environment. As used herein, a “polypeptide fragment” refers to a portion of a polypeptide that results from digestion of a polypeptide with a protease. Unless otherwise specified, “a,” “an,” “the,” and “at least one” are used interchangeably and mean one or more than one.
A polypeptide of the present invention may be characterized by molecular weight. The molecular weight of a polypeptide, typically expressed in kilodaltons (kDa), can be determined using routine methods including, for instance, gel filtration, gel electrophoresis including sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis, capillary electrophoresis, mass spectrometry, and liquid chromatography including HPLC.
A polypeptide of the present invention may be characterized by mass fingerprint. As used herein, a “mass fingerprint” refers to a population of polypeptide fragments obtained from a polypeptide after digestion with a protease. Typically, the polypeptide fragments resulting from a digestion are analyzed using a mass spectrometric method. Each polypeptide fragment is characterized by a mass, or by a mass (m) to charge (z) ratio, which is referred to as an “m/z ratio” or an “m/z value”. Methods for generating a mass fingerprint of a polypeptide are routine. An example of such a method is disclosed in Example 25.
The polypeptides of the present invention may be metal regulated polypeptides. As used herein, a “metal regulated polypeptide” is a polypeptide that is expressed by a microbe at a greater level when the microbe is grown in low metal conditions compared to growth of the same microbe in high metal conditions. Low metal and high metal conditions are described herein. For instance, a metal regulated polypeptide is not expressed at detectable levels during growth of the microbe in high metal conditions but is expressed at detectable levels during growth in low metal conditions. Another type of metal regulated polypeptide is expressed at detectable levels during growth of the microbe in high metal conditions but expressed at higher levels during growth in low metal conditions. The expression of such polypeptides is referred to herein as “enhanced” during growth in low metal conditions. In general, metal regulated polypeptides typically have a molecular weight of 66 kDa or greater. Polypeptides that are not metal regulated are typically expressed at about the same level when the microbe is grown in low metal and high metal conditions. In general, non-metal regulated polypeptides typically have a molecular weight of less than 66 kDa.
Whether a metal regulated polypeptide is expressed at a detectable level or has enhanced expression during growth in low metal conditions can be determined by methods useful for comparing the presence of polypeptides, including, for example, gel filtration, gel electrophoresis including sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis, capillary electrophoresis, mass spectrometry, and liquid chromatography including HPLC. Separate cultures of a microbe are grown under high metal conditions and under low metal conditions, polypeptides of the present invention are isolated as described herein, and the polypeptides present in each culture are resolved and compared. Typically, an equal amount of polypeptide from each culture is used. For instance, when SDS polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis is used to compare the polypeptides, about 30 μg micrograms of polypeptide from each culture is used and loaded into a well. After running the gel and staining the polypeptides, the two lanes can be compared.
Preferably, polypeptides of the present invention have immunogenic activity. “Immunogenic activity” refers to the ability of a polypeptide to elicit an immunological response in an animal. An immunological response to a polypeptide is the development in an animal of a cellular and/or antibody-mediated immune response to the polypeptide. Usually, an immunological response includes but is not limited to one or more of the following effects: the production of antibodies, B cells, helper T cells, suppressor T cells, and/or cytotoxic T cells, directed to an epitope or epitopes of the polypeptide. “Epitope” refers to the site on an antigen to which specific B cells and/or T cells respond so that antibody is produced.
In one aspect, a polypeptide of the present invention has the characteristics of a polypeptide expressed by a reference microbe. The characteristics include both molecular weight and mass fingerprint. The reference microbe can be Salmonella or an E. coli. Preferred examples of each of these are detailed in Table 1.
When the reference microbe is S. enterica serovar Newport, for instance MS020508, a candidate polypeptide is considered to be a polypeptide of the present invention if it has a molecular weight of 82 kDa, 80 kDa, 74 kDa, 65 kDa, 56 kDa, 55 kDa, 52 kDa, 45 kDa, 38 kDa, 36 kDa, 22 kDa, 18 kDa, or 12 kDa, and has a mass fingerprint that is similar to the mass fingerprint of a polypeptide expressed by a reference microbe and having a molecular weight of 80 kDa, 74 kDa, 65 kDa, 56 kDa, 55 kDa, 52 kDa, 45 kDa, 38 kDa, 36 kDa, 22 kDa, 18 kDa, or 12 kDa, respectively.
When the reference microbe is S. enterica serovar Enteritidis, for instance MS010531, a polypeptide is considered to be a polypeptide of the present invention if it has a molecular weight of 92 kDa, 91 kDa, 86 kDa, 83 kDa, 78 kDa, 55 kDa, 40 kDa, 39 kDa, or 38 kDa, and has a mass fingerprint that is similar to the mass fingerprint of a polypeptide expressed by a reference microbe and having a molecular weight of 92 kDa, 91 kDa, 86 kDa, 83 kDa, 78 kDa, 55 kDa, 40 kDa, 39 kDa, or 38 kDa, respectively.
When the reference microbe is S. enterica serovar Typhimurium, for instance MS010427, a polypeptide is considered to be a polypeptide of the present invention if it has a molecular weight of 86 kDa, 82 kDa, 77 kDa, 40 kDa, 39 kDa, or 38 kDa, and has a mass fingerprint that is similar to the mass fingerprint of a polypeptide expressed by a reference microbe and having a molecular weight of 86 kDa, 82 kDa, 77 kDa, 40 kDa, 39 kDa, or 38 kDa, respectively.
When the reference microbe is S. enterica serovar Dublin, for instance IRP SDC Serial, a polypeptide is considered to be a polypeptide of the present invention if it has a molecular weight of 96 kDa, 89 kDa, 81 kDa, 61 kDa, 56 kDa, 51 kDa, 43 kDa, 40 kDa, or 38 kDa, and has a mass fingerprint that is similar to the mass fingerprint of a polypeptide expressed by a reference microbe and having a molecular weight of 96 kDa, 89 kDa, 81 kDa, 61 kDa, 56 kDa, 51 kDa, 43 kDa, 40 kDa, or 38 kDa, respectively.
When the reference microbe is an E. coli, for instance BEcO157(stx-), a polypeptide is considered to be a polypeptide of the present invention if it has a molecular weight of 90 kDa, 86 kDa, 83 kDa, 79 kDa, 66 kDa, 56 kDa, 38 kDa, 37 kDa, or 29 kDa, and has a mass fingerprint that is similar to the mass fingerprint of a polypeptide expressed by a reference microbe and having a molecular weight of 90 kDa, 86 kDa, 83 kDa, 79 kDa, 66 kDa, 56 kDa, 38 kDa, 37 kDa, or 29 kDa, respectively.
When the reference microbe is an E. coli, for instance MS040330, a polypeptide is considered to be a polypeptide of the present invention if it has a molecular weight of 92 kDa, 80 kDa, 77 kDa, 72 kDa, 66 kDa, 50 kDa, 42 kDa, 38 kDa, 36 kDa, 35 kDa, 30 kDa, 19 kDa, or 16 kDa, and has a mass fingerprint that is similar to the mass fingerprint of a polypeptide expressed by a reference microbe and having a molecular weight of 92 kDa, 80 kDa, 77 kDa, 72 kDa, 66 kDa, 50 kDa, 42 kDa, 38 kDa, 36 kDa, 35 kDa, 30 kDa, 19 kDa, or 16 kDa, respectively.
When the reference microbe is an E. coli, for instance MS040324, a polypeptide is considered to be a polypeptide of the present invention if it has a molecular weight of 88 kDa, 82 kDa, 79 kDa, 60 kDa, 54 kDa, 46 kDa, 45 kDa, 38 kDa, 37 kDa, 31 kDa, 30 kDa, 19 kDa, 16 kDa, and has a mass fingerprint that is similar to the mass fingerprint of a polypeptide expressed by a reference microbe and having a molecular weight of 88 kDa, 82 kDa, 79 kDa, 60 kDa, 54 kDa, 46 kDa, 45 kDa, 38 kDa, 37 kDa, 31 kDa, 30 kDa, 19 kDa, 16 kDa, respectively.
When the reference microbe is an E. coli, for instance MS040827, a polypeptide is considered to be a polypeptide of the present invention if it has a molecular weight of 101 kDa, 88 kDa, 85 kDa, 77 kDa, 67 kDa, 38 kDa, 35 kDa, and has a mass fingerprint that is similar to the mass fingerprint of a polypeptide expressed by a reference microbe and having a molecular weight of 101 kDa, 88 kDa, 85 kDa, 77 kDa, 67 kDa, 38 kDa, 35 kDa, respectively.
The polypeptides expressed by a reference microbe and referred to above by molecular weight can be obtained by growth of the reference microbe under low metal conditions and the subsequent isolation of a polypeptide by the processes disclosed herein. A candidate polypeptide can be obtainable from a microbe, preferably a gram negative microbe, more preferably, a member of the family Enterobacteriaceae, for instance, a member of the tribe Escherichieae or Salmonelleae. A candidate polypeptide may also be produced using recombinant, enzymatic, or chemical techniques.
A candidate polypeptide may be evaluated by mass spectrometric analysis to determine whether the candidate polypeptide has a mass fingerprint similar to one of the polypeptides expressed by a reference microbe and referred to above by molecular weight. Typically, the candidate polypeptide is purified, for instance by resolving the candidate polypeptide by gel electrophoresis and excising the portion of the gel containing the candidate polypeptide. Any gel electrophoresis method that separates polypeptides based on differing characteristics can be used, including 1 dimensional or 2 dimensional gel electrophoresis, as well as separation based on, for instance, hydrophobicity, pI, or size. The candidate polypeptide is fragmented, for instance by digestion with a protease. Preferably, the protease cleaves the peptide bond on the carboxy-terminal side of the amino acid lysine and the amino acid arginine, except when the amino acid following the lysine or the arginine is a proline. An example of such a protease is trypsin. Methods for digesting a polypeptide with trypsin are routine and known to the art. An example of such a method is disclosed in Example 24.
Methods for the mass spectrometric analysis of polypeptides are routine and known to the art and include, but are not limited to, matrix assisted laser desorption/ionization time of flight mass spectroscopy (MALDI-TOF MS). Typically, a mixture containing the polypeptide fragments obtained from a candidate polypeptide is mixed with a matrix that functions to transform the laser energy to the sample and produce ionized, preferably monoisotopic, polypeptide fragments. Examples of matrices that can be used include, for instance, sinapinic acid and cyano-4-hydroxycinnamic acid. An example of a method for the analysis of polypeptides by MALDI-TOF MS is described in Example 24. The ionized polypeptide fragments are separated according to their m/z ratio, and detected to yield a spectrum of m/z ratio versus intensity. The spectrum includes m/z values that represent the polypeptide fragments derived from the candidate polypeptide. For any given polypeptide, the amount of each polypeptide fragment resulting from a trypsin digestion should be equimolar. However, it is known that trypsin digestion is not 100% efficient, for instance, some sites are more efficiently cleaved. Thus, when MALDI-TOF MS is used to determine m/z values, the intensity of each m/z value is typically not identical. Generally, a spectrum has a background level of noise present across most of the x-axis (i.e., the axis having the values of the m/z ratios). This background level of noise varies depending on the running conditions and the machine used, and is easily identified by visual inspection of the spectrum. An m/z value is generally considered to represent a polypeptide fragment when the intensity is at least 2 times greater, 3 times greater, or 4 times greater than the background level of noise. The spectrum usually includes other m/z values that are artifacts resulting from, for instance, incomplete digestion, over digestion, other polypeptides that may be present in the mixture, or the protease used to digest the polypeptide including m/z values resulting from autolysis of the protease. This method of digesting a polypeptide with a protease is recognized by the art as resulting in a mass fingerprint of great specificity that can be used to accurately characterize the polypeptide and distinguish it from other polypeptides.
In this aspect of the invention, when a candidate polypeptide is analyzed by mass spectroscopy, preferably both the candidate polypeptide and the polypeptide from the reference microbe are prepared and analyzed together, thereby decreasing any potential artifacts resulting from differences in sample handling and running conditions. Preferably, all reagents used to prepare and analyze the two polypeptides are the same. For instance, the polypeptide from the reference microbe and the candidate polypeptide are isolated under substantially the same conditions, fragmented under substantially the same conditions, and analyzed by MALDI-TOF MS on the same machine under substantially the same conditions. A mass fingerprint of a candidate polypeptide is considered to be similar to the mass fingerprint of a polypeptide from a reference microbe when 80%, 90%, 95%, or substantially all of the m/z values present in the spectrum of the reference microbe polypeptide and above the background level of noise are also present in the spectrum of the candidate polypeptide.
In another aspect, a polypeptide is considered to be a polypeptide of the present invention if it has a molecular weight of a reference polypeptide described in Table 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, or 9 and has a mass fingerprint that includes the population of polypeptide fragments of the reference polypeptide as listed in Table 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, or 9. For instance, a polypeptide of the present invention includes a polypeptide of 82 kDa and a mass fingerprint that includes polypeptide fragments having masses of 629.39, 644.37, 772.42, 831.45, 873.46, 991.55, 1083.61, 1208.58, 1325.75, 1378.66, 1500.71, 1619.77, 1634.84, 1619.77, 1728.83, 1872.88, 1981.96, 1998.06, 2193.94, and 2332.05. The mass fingerprint of a candidate polypeptide can be determined by a mass spectrometric method as described herein, preferably, by MALDI-TOF MS. The mass fingerprint of a candidate polypeptide will generally have additional polypeptide fragments and therefore additional m/z values other than those listed for a polypeptide in Table 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, or 9. Preferably, when the candidate polypeptide is being compared to a polypeptide in Table 2, 3, 4, or 5, the candidate polypeptide is obtained from an S. enterica serovar Newport, an S. enterica serovar Enteritidis, an S. enterica serovar Typhimurium, or an S. enterica serovar Dublin, respectively. Preferably, when the candidate polypeptide is being compared to a polypeptide in Table 6, 7, 8, or 9, the candidate polypeptide is obtained from an E. coli. A candidate polypeptide can be obtained by growth of a microbe under low metal conditions and the subsequent isolation of a polypeptide by the processes described herein.
It is well known in the art that modifications of amino acids can be accidentally introduced during sample handling, such as oxidation, and formation of carbamidomethyl derivatives. Further, these types of modifications alter the m/z value of a polypeptide fragment. For instance, if a polypeptide fragment contains a methoinine that is oxidized the m/z value will be increased by 16 relative to the same fragment that does not contain the oxidized methionine. It is understood that the polypeptide fragments of Tables 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, and 9 can be modified during sample handling.
In yet another aspect, the present invention further includes polypeptides having similarity with an amino acid sequence. The similarity is referred to as structural similarity and is generally determined by aligning the residues of the two amino acid sequences (i.e., a candidate amino acid sequence and a reference amino acid sequence) to optimize the number of identical amino acids along the lengths of their sequences; gaps in either or both sequences are permitted in making the alignment in order to optimize the number of identical amino acids, although the amino acids in each sequence must nonetheless remain in their proper order. Reference amino acid sequences are disclosed in Tables 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, and 17. Two amino acid sequences can be prepared using commercially available algorithms. Preferably, two amino acid sequences are compared using the Blastp program of the BLAST 2 search algorithm, as described by Tatusova, et al., (FEMS Microbiol Lett 1999, 174:247-250), and available at http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/gorf/bl2.html. Preferably, the default values for all BLAST 2 search parameters are used, including matrix=BLOSUM62; open gap penalty=11, extension gap penalty=1, gap x_dropoff=50, expect=10, wordsize=3, and optionally, filter on. In the comparison of two amino acid sequences using the BLAST search algorithm, structural similarity is referred to as “identities.” Preferably, a candidate amino acid sequence has at least 95% identity, at least 96% identity, at least 97% identity, at least 98% identity, or at least 99% identity to a reference amino acid sequence. Preferably, the molecular weight of the candidate amino acid sequence and the reference amino acid sequence are substantially the same value. Preferably, the molecular weight of the candidate amino acid sequence and the reference amino acid sequence is determined by SDS polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. A candidate polypeptide can be obtained by growth of a microbe under low metal conditions and the subsequent isolation of a polypeptide by the procedures disclosed herein.
Typically, a candidate amino acid sequence having structural similarity to a reference amino acid sequence has seroreactive activity. As used herein, “seroreactive activity” refers to the ability of a candidate polypeptide to react with antibody present in convalescent serum from an animal infected with an S. enterica serovar Newport (preferably, MS020508), an S. enterica serovar Enteritidis (preferably, MS010531), an S. enterica serovar Typhimurium (preferably, MS010427), an S. enterica serovar Dublin (preferably, IRP SDC Serial), or an E. coli (preferably, BEcO157(stx-), MS040330, MS040324, or MS040827). Preferably, when the candidate polypeptide is compared to a reference polypeptide from table 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, or 17, the convalescent serum is from an animal infected with MS020508, MS010531, MS010427, IRP SDC Serial, BEcO157(stx-), MS040330, MS040324, or MS040827, respectively.
Also provided by the present invention are whole cell preparations of a microbe, where the microbe expresses one or more of the polypeptides of the present invention. The cells present in a whole cell preparation are preferably inactivated such that the cells cannot replicate, but the immunogenic activity of the polypeptides of the present invention expressed by the microbe is maintained. Typically, the cells are killed by exposure to agents such as glutaraldehyde, formalin, or formaldehyde.
CompositionsA composition of the present invention may include at least one polypeptide described herein, or a number of polypeptides that is an integer greater than 1 (e.g., at least 2, at least 3, at least 4, etc.) up to 15. A composition can include polypeptides obtainable from 1 microbe, or can be obtainable from a combination of 2 or more microbes. For instance, a composition can include polypeptides obtainable from 2 or more E. coli strains, or from 1 or more E. coli and 1 or more Salmonella spp.
Optionally, a polypeptide of the present invention can be covalently bound to a carrier polypeptide to improve the immunological properties of the polypeptide. Useful carrier polypeptides are known to the art. The chemical coupling of a polypeptide of the present invention can be carried out using known and routine methods. For instance, various homobifunctional and/or heterobifunctional cross-linker reagents such as bis(sulfosuccinimidyl) suberate, bis(diazobenzidine), dimethyl adipimidate, dimethyl pimelimidate, dimethyl superimidate, disuccinimidyl suberate, glutaraldehyde, m-maleimidobenzoyl-N-hydroxysuccinimide, sulfo-m-maleimidobenzoyl-N-hydroxysuccinimide, sulfosuccinimidyl 4-(N-maleimidomethyl)cycloheane-1-carboxylate, sulfosuccinimidyl 4-(p-maleimido-phenyl) butyrate and (1-ethyl-3-(dimethyl-aminopropyl) carbodiimide can be used (Harlow and Lane, Antibodies, A Laboratory Manual, generally and Chapter 5, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, Cold Spring Harbor, N.Y., N.Y. (1988)).
Preferably, such compositions of the present invention include low concentrations of lipopolysaccharide (LPS). LPS is a component of the outer membrane of most gram negative microbes (see, for instance, Nikaido and Vaara, Outer Membrane, In: Escherichia coli and Salmonella typhimurium, Cellular and Molecular Biology, Neidhardt et al., (eds.) American Society for Microbiology, Washington, D.C., pp. 7-22 (1987), and typically includes polysaccharides (O-specific chain, the outer and inner core) and the lipid A region. The lipid A component of LPS is the most biologically active component of the LPS structure and together induce a wide spectrum of pathophysiological effects in mammals. The most dramatic effects are fever, disseminated intravascular coagulation, complement activation, hypotensive shock, and death. The non-specific immunostimulatory activity of LPS can enhance the formation of a granuloma at the site of administration of compositions that include LPS. Such reactions can result in undue stress on the animal by which the animal may back off feed or water for a period of time, and exasperate infectious conditions in the animal. In addition, the formation of a granuloma at the site of injection can increase the likelihood of possible down grading of the carcass due to scaring or blemishes of the tissue at the injection site (see, for instance, Rae, Injection Site Reactions, available at www.animal.ufl.edu/short94/rae.htm).
The concentration of LPS can be determined using routine methods known to the art. Such methods typically include measurement of dye binding by LPS (see, for instance, Keler and Nowotny, Analyt. Biochem., 156, 189 (1986)) or the use of a Limulus amebocyte lysate (LAL) test (see, for instance, Endotoxins and Their Detection With the Limulus Amebocyte Lystate Test, Alan R. Liss, Inc., 150 Fifth Avenue, New York, N.Y. (1982)). There are four basic commercially available methods that are typically used with an LAL test: the gel-clot test; the turbidimetric (spectrophotometric) test; the colorimetric test; and the chromogenic test. An example of a gel-clot assay is available under the tradename E-TOXATE (Sigma Chemical Co., St. Louis, Mo.; see Sigma Technical Bulletin No. 210), and PYROTELL (Associates of Cape Cod, Inc., East Falmouth, Mass.). Typically, assay conditions include contacting the composition with a preparation containing a lysate of the circulating amebocytes of the horseshoe crab, Limulus polyphemus. When exposed to LPS, the lysate increases in opacity as well as viscosity and may gel. About 0.1 milliliter of the composition is added to lysate. Typically, the pH of the composition is between 6 and 8, preferably, between 6.8 and 7.5. The mixture of composition and lysate is incubated for about 1 hour undisturbed at about 37° C. After incubation, the mixture is observed to determine if there was gelation of the mixture. Gelation indicates the presence of endotoxin. To determine the amount of endotoxin present in the composition, dilutions of a standardized solution of endotoxin are made and tested at the same time that the composition is tested. Standardized solutions of endotoxin are commercially available from, for instance, Sigma Chemical (Catalog No. 210-SE), U.S. Pharmacopeia (Rockville, Md., Catalog No. 235503), and Associates of Cape Cod, Inc., (Catalog No. E0005). In general, when a composition of the present invention is prepared by isolating polypeptides from a microbe by a method as described herein (e.g., a method that includes disrupting and solubilizing the cells, and collecting the insoluble polypeptides), the amount of LPS in a composition of the present invention is less than the amount of LPS present in a mixture of the same amount of the microbe that has been disrupted under the same conditions but not solubilized. Typically, the level of LPS in a composition of the present invention is decreased by, in increasing order of preference, at least 50%, at least 60%, at least 70%, at least 80%, or at least 90% relative to the level of LPS in a composition prepared by disrupting, but not solubilizing, the same microbe.
The present invention also provides compositions including a whole cell preparation of at least Salmonella spp., at least about 1 E. coli, or the combination thereof. In some aspects, a composition can include whole preparations from 2, 3, 4, 5, or 6 E. coli strains.
The compositions of the present invention optionally further include a pharmaceutically acceptable carrier. “Pharmaceutically acceptable” refers to a diluent, carrier, excipient, salt, etc, that is compatible with the other ingredients of the composition, and not deleterious to the recipient thereof. Typically, the composition includes a pharmaceutically acceptable carrier when the composition is used as described herein. The compositions of the present invention may be formulated in pharmaceutical preparations in a variety of forms adapted to the chosen route of administration, including routes suitable for stimulating an immune response to an antigen. Thus, a composition of the present invention can be administered via known routes including, for example, oral; parental including intradermal, subcutaneous, intramuscular, intravenous, intraperitoneal, etc., and topically, such as, intranasal, intrapulmonary, intramammary, intravaginal, intrauterine, intradermal, and rectally etc. It is foreseen that a composition can be administered to a mucosal surface, such as by administration to the nasal or respiratory mucosa (e.g. spray or aerosol), to stimulate mucosal immunity, such as production of secretory IgA antibodies, throughout the animal's body.
A composition of the present invention can also be administered via a sustained or delayed release implant. Implants suitable for use according to the invention are known and include, for example, those disclosed in Emery and Straub (WO 01/37810 (2001)), and Emery et al., (WO 96/01620 (1996)). Implants can be produced at sizes small enough to be administered by aerosol or spray. Implants also include nanospheres and microspheres.
A composition of the present invention is administered in an amount sufficient to treat certain conditions as described herein. The amount of polypeptides or whole cells present in a composition of the present invention can vary. For instance, the dosage of polypeptides can be between 0.01 micrograms (μg) and 300 mg, typically between 0.1 mg and 10 mg. When the composition is a whole cell preparation, the cells can be present at a concentration of 106 bacteria/ml, 107 bacteria/ml, 108 bacteria/ml, or 109 bacteria/ml. For an injectable composition (e.g. subcutaneous, intramuscular, etc.) the polypeptides may be present in the composition in an amount such that the total volume of the composition administered is 0.5 ml to 5.0 ml, typically 1.0-2.0 ml. When the composition is a whole cell preparation, the cells are preferably present in the composition in an amount that the total volume of the composition administered is 0.5 ml to 5.0 ml, typically 1.0-2.0 ml. The amount administered will vary depending on various factors including, but not limited to, the specific polypeptides chosen, the weight, physical condition and age of the animal, and the route of administration. Thus, the absolute weight of the polypeptide included in a given unit dosage form can vary widely, and depends upon factors such as the species, age, weight and physical condition of the animal, as well as the method of administration. Such factors can be determined by one of skill in the art. Other examples of dosages suitable for the invention are disclosed in Emery et al., (U.S. Pat. No. 6,027,736).
The formulations may be conveniently presented in unit dosage form and may be prepared by methods well known in the art of pharmacy. All methods of preparing a composition including a pharmaceutically acceptable carrier include the step of bringing the active compound (e.g., a polypeptide or whole cell of the present invention) into association with a carrier that constitutes one or more accessory ingredients. In general, the formulations are prepared by uniformly and intimately bringing the active compound into association with a liquid carrier, a finely divided solid carrier, or both, and then, if necessary, shaping the product into the desired formulations.
A composition including a pharmaceutically acceptable carrier can also include an adjuvant. An “adjuvant” refers to an agent that can act in a nonspecific manner to enhance an immune response to a particular antigen, thus potentially reducing the quantity of antigen necessary in any given immunizing composition, and/or the frequency of injection necessary in order to generate an adequate immune response to the antigen of interest. Adjuvants may include, for example, IL-1, IL-2, emulsifiers, muramyl dipeptides, dimethyldiocradecylammonium bromide (DDA), pyridine, aluminum hydroxide, oils, saponins, alpha-tocopherol, polysaccharides, emulsified paraffins (including, for instance, those available from under the tradename EMULSIGEN from MVP Laboratories, Ralston, Nebr.), ISA-70, RIBI and other substances known in the art.
In another embodiment, a composition of the invention including a pharmaceutically acceptable carrier can include a biological response modifier, such as, for example, IL-2, IL-4 and/or IL-6, TNF, IFN-alpha, IFN-gamma, and other cytokines that effect immune cells. An immunizing composition can also include other components known to the art such as an antibiotic, a preservative, an anti-oxidant, or a chelating agent.
Methods of MakingThe polypeptides and whole cells of the present invention are obtainable from a member of the family Enterobacteriaceae, for instance, a member of the tribe Escherichieae or Salmonelleae. Preferred examples of members of the tribe Escherichieae are E. coli and Salmonella spp. A Salmonella spp. can be a member of serogroup A, B, C1, C2, C3, D1, D2, D3, E1, E2, E3, E4, G1, G2, H, I, J, K, L, M, N, O, P, Q, R, S, T, U, V, W, X, Y, Z, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 59, or 60. Preferred examples of Salmonella spp. are S. cholerasuis, S. typhi, or one of the S. enterica serovars, e.g., Bredeney, Dublin, Agona, Blockley, Enteriditis, Typhimurium, Hadar, Heidelberg, Montevideo, Muenster, Newport, or Senftenberg, most preferably, S. enterica serovar Newport, S. enterica serovar Enteritidis, S. enterica serovar Typhimurium, and S. enterica serovar Dublin. Microbes useful for obtaining polypeptides of the present invention and making whole cell preparations are commercially available from a depository such as American Type Culture Collection (ATCC). In addition, such microbes are readily obtainable by techniques routine and known to the art. The microbes may be derived from an infected animal as a field isolate, and used to obtain polypeptides and/or whole cell prearations of the present invention, or stored for future use, for example, in a frozen repository at −20° C. to −95° C., or −40° C. to −50° C., in bacteriological media containing 20% glycerol, and other like media.
When a polypeptide of the present invention is to be obtained from a microbe, the microbe can be incubated under low metal conditions. As used herein, the phrase “low metal conditions” refers to an environment, typically bacteriological media, that contains amounts of a free metal that cause a microbe to express metal regulated polypeptides. As used herein, the phrase “high metal conditions” refers to an environment that contains amounts of a free metal that cause a microbe to either not express one or more of the metal regulated polypeptides described herein, or to decrease expression of such a polypeptide. Metals are those present in the periodic table under Groups 1 through 17 (IUPAC notation; also referred to as Groups I-A, II-A, III-B, IV-B, V-B, VI-B, VII-B, VIII, I-B, II-B, III-A, IV-A, V-A, VI-A, and VII-A, respectively, under CAS notation). Preferably, metals are those in Groups 2 through 12, more preferably, Groups 3-12. Even more preferably, the metal is iron, zinc, copper, magnesium, nickel, cobalt, manganese, molybdenum, or selenium, most preferably, iron.
Low metal conditions are generally the result of the addition of a metal chelating compound to a bacteriological medium. High metal conditions are generally present when a chelator is not present in the medium, a metal is added to the medium, or the combination thereof. Examples of metal chelators include natural and synthetic compounds. Examples of natural compounds include plant phenolic compounds, such as flavenoids. Examples of flavenoids include the copper chelators catechin and naringenin, and the iron chelators myricetin and quercetin. Examples of synthetic copper chelators include, for instance, tetrathiomolybdate, and examples of synthetic zinc chelators include, for instance, N,N,N′,N′-Tetrakis (2-pyridylmethyl)-ethylene diamine. Examples of synthetic iron chelators include 2,2′-dipyridyl (also referred to in the art as α,α′-bipyridyl), 8-hydroxyquinoline, ethylenediamine-di-O-hydroxyphenylacetic acid (EDDHA), desferrioxamine methanesulphonate (desferol), transferrin, lactoferrin, ovotransferrin, biological siderophores, such as, the catecholates and hydroxamates, and citrate. Preferably, 2,2′-dipyridyl is used for the chelation of iron. Typically, 2,2′-dipyridyl is added to the media at a concentration of at least 0.0025 micrograms/milliliter (μg/ml), at least 0.025 μg/ml, or at least 0.25 μg/ml. High levels of 2,2′-dipyridyl can be 10 μg/ml, 20 μml, or 30 μg/ml.
It is expected that a Salmonella spp. or E. coli with a mutation in a fur gene will result in the constitutive expression of many, if not all, of the metal regulated polypeptides of the present invention. The production of a fur mutation in a Salmonella spp. or E. coli can be produced using routine methods including, for instance, transposon, chemical, or site-directed mutagenesis useful for generating gene knock-out mutations in gram negative bacteria.
The medium used to incubate the microbe and the volume of media used to incubate the microbe can vary. When a microbe is being evaluated for the ability to produce one or more of the polypeptides described herein, the microbe can be grown in a suitable volume, for instance, 10 milliliters to 1 liter of medium. When a microbe is being grown to obtain polypeptides for use in, for instance, administration to animals, the microbe may be grown in a fermentor to allow the isolation of larger amounts of polypeptides. Methods for growing microbes in a fermentor are routine and known to the art. The conditions used for growing a microbe preferably include a metal chelator, more preferably an iron chelator, for instance 2,2′-dipyridyl, a pH of between 6.5 and 7.5, preferably between 6.9 and 7.1, and a temperature of 37° C.
In some aspects of the invention, a microbe may be harvested after growth. Harvesting includes concentrating the microbe into a smaller volume and suspending in a media different than the growth media. Methods for concentrating a microbe are routine and known to the art, and include, for example, filtration or centrifugation. Typically, the concentrated microbe is suspended in decreasing amounts of buffer. Preferably, the final buffer includes a metal chelator, preferably, ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA). An example of a buffer that can be used contains Tris-base (7.3 grams/liter) and EDTA (0.9 grams/liter), at a pH of 8.5. Optionally, the final buffer also minimizes proteolytic degradation. This can be accomplished by having the final buffer at a pH of greater than 8.0, preferably, at least 8.5, and/or including one or more proteinase inhibitors (e.g., phenylmethanesulfonyl fluoride). Optionally and preferably, the concentrated microbe is frozen at −20° C. or below until disrupted.
When the microbe is to be used as a whole cell preparation, the harvested cells may be processed using routine and known methods to inactivate the cells. Alternatively, when a microbe is to be used to prepare polypeptides of the present invention, the microbe may be disrupted using chemical, physical, or mechanical methods routine and known to the art, including, for example, french press, sonication, or homoginization. Preferably, homoginization is used. As used herein, “disruption” refers to the breaking up of the cell. Disruption of a microbe can be measured by methods that are routine and known to the art, including, for instance, changes in optical density. Typically, a microbe is subjected to disruption until the percent transmittance is increased by 20% when a 1:100 dilution is measured. The temperature during disruption is typically kept low, preferably at 4° C., to further minimize proteolytic degradation.
The disrupted microbe is solubilized in a detergent, for instance, an anionic, zwitterionic, nonionic, or cationic detergent. Preferably, the detergent is sarcosine, more preferably, sodium lauroyl sarcosinate. As used herein, the term “solubilize” refers to dissolving cellular materials (e.g., polypeptides, nucleic acids, carbohydrates) into the aqueous phase of the buffer in which the microbe was disrupted, and the formation of aggregates of insoluble cellular materials. The conditions for solubilization preferably result in the aggregation of polypeptides of the present invention into insoluble aggregates that are large enough to allow easy isolation by, for instance, centrifugation.
Preferably, the sarcosine is added such that the final ratio of sarcosine to gram weight of disrupted microbe is between 1.0 gram sarcosine per 4.5 grams pellet mass and 6.0 grams sarcosine per 4.5 grams pellet mass, preferably, 4.5 gram sarcosine per 4.5 grams pellet mass. The solubilization of the microbe may be measured by methods that are routine and known to the art, including, for instance, changes in optical density. Typically, the solubilization is allowed to occur for at least 24 hours, more preferably, at least 48 hours, most preferably, at least 60 hours. The temperature during disruption is typically kept low, preferably at 4° C.
The insoluble aggregates that include one or more of the polypeptides of the present invention may be isolated by methods that are routine and known to the art. Preferably, the insoluble aggregates are isolated by centrifugation. Typically, centrifugation of outer membrane polypeptides that are insoluble in detergents requires centrifugal forces of at least 50,000×g, typically 100,000×g. The use of such centrifugal forces requires the use of ultracentrifuges, and scale-up to process large volumes of sample is often difficult and not economical with these types of centrifuges. The methods described herein provide for the production of insoluble aggregates large enough to allow the use of significantly lower centrifugal forces (for instance, 46,000×g). Methods for processing large volumes at these lower centrifugal forces are available and known to the art. Thus, the insoluble aggregates can be isolated at a significantly lower cost.
Optionally and preferably, the sarcosine is removed from the isolated polypeptides. Methods for removing sarcosine from the isolated polypeptides are known to the art, and include, for instance, diafiltration, precipitation, hydrophobic chromatography, ion-exchange chromatography, or affinity chromatography, and ultra filtration and washing the polypeptides in alcohol by diafiltration. After isolation, the polypeptides suspended in buffer and stored at low temperature, for instance, −20° C. or below.
Polypeptides of the present invention may also be isolated from microbes using methods that are known to the art. The isolation of the polypeptides may be accomplished as described in, for instance, Emery et al., (U.S. Pat. No. 5,830,479) and Emery et al., (U.S. Patent Application US 20030036639 A1).
In those aspects of the present invention where a whole cell preparation is to be made, after growth a microbe can be killed with the addition of an agent such as glutaraldehyde, formalin, or formaldehyde, at a concentration sufficient to inactivate the cells in the culture. For instance, formalin can be added at a concentration of 3% (vol:vol). After a period of time sufficient to inactivate the cells, the cells can be harvested by, for instance, diafiltration and/or centrifugation, and washed.
Methods of UseAn aspect of the present invention is further directed to methods of using the compositions of the present invention. The methods include administering to an animal an effective amount of a composition of the present invention. The animal can be, for instance, avian (including, for instance, chickens or turkeys), bovine (including, for instance, cattle), caprine (including, for instance, goats), ovine (including, for instance, sheep), porcine (including, for instance, swine), bison (including, for instance, buffalo), a companion animal (including, for instance, horses), members of the family Cervidae (including, for instance, deer, elk, moose, caribou and reindeer), or human.
In some aspects, the methods may further include additional administrations (e.g., one or more booster administrations) of the composition to the animal to enhance or stimulate a secondary immune response. A booster can be administered at a time after the first administration, for instance, 1 to 8 weeks, preferably 2 to 4 weeks, after the first administration of the composition. Subsequent boosters can be administered one, two, three, four, or more times annually. Without intending to be limited by theory, it is expected that in some aspects of the present invention annual boosters will not be necessary, as an animal will be challenged in the field by exposure to microbes expressing polypeptides present in the compositions having epitopes that are identical to or structurally related to epitopes present on polypeptides of the composition administered to the animal.
In one aspect, the invention is directed to methods for inducing the production of antibody in an animal or by recombinant techniques. The antibody produced includes antibody that specifically binds at least one polypeptide present in the composition. In this aspect of the invention, an “effective amount” is an amount effective to result in the production of antibody in the animal. Methods for determining whether an animal has produced antibodies that specifically bind polypeptides present in a composition of the present invention can be determined as described herein.
The method may be used to produce antibody that specifically binds polypeptides expressed by a microbe other than the microbe from which the polypeptides of the composition were isolated. As used herein, an antibody that can “specifically bind” a polypeptide is an antibody that interacts with the epitope of the antigen that induced the synthesis of the antibody, or interacts with a structurally related epitope. At least some of the polypeptides present in the compositions of the present invention typically include epitopes that are conserved in the polypeptides of different species and different genera of microbes (see Example 26). Accordingly, antibody produced using a composition derived from one microbe is expected to bind to polypeptides expressed by other microbes and provide broad spectrum protection against gram negative organisms. Examples of gram negative microbes to which the antibody specifically binds are enteropathogens, for instance, members of the family Enterobacteriaceae.
In another aspect, the present invention is directed to methods for treating one or more symptoms of certain conditions in animals that may be caused by, or associated with, a microbe. Such conditions include, for instance, gram negative microbial infections. Examples of conditions caused by microbial infections include mastitis, intestinal colonization by a microbe, metritis, strangles, intrauterine infections, odema disease, enteritis, chronic reproductive infections, laminitis, mastitis, and acute or chronic chlamydiosis, colibacillosis, ehrlichiosis, leptospirosis, pasteurellosis, pseudotuberculosis, and salmonellosis. Examples of conditions that may be caused by microbial infections include performance characteristics such as decreased milk production, high somatic cell counts, poor milk quality, and weight loss. Treatment of these conditions can be prophylactic or, alternatively, can be initiated after the development of a condition described herein. Treatment that is prophylactic, for instance, initiated before a subject manifests symptoms of a condition caused by a microbe, is referred to herein as treatment of a subject that is “at risk” of developing the condition. Typically, an animal “at risk” of developing a condition is an animal present in an area where the condition has been diagnosed and/or is likely to be exposed to a microbe causing the condition. Accordingly, administration of a composition can be performed before, during, or after the occurrence of the conditions described herein. Treatment initiated after the development of a condition may result in decreasing the severity of the symptoms of one of the conditions, or completely removing the symptoms. In this aspect of the invention, an “effective amount” is an amount effective to prevent the manifestation of symptoms of a disease, decrease the severity of the symptoms of a disease, and/or completely remove the symptoms. The potency of a composition of the present invention can be tested according to established standard methods detailed at Title 9 of the Code of Federal Regulations, section 113. For instance, 9 CFR §113.120(c) and 9 CFR §113.123(c) describe standard methods for determining the potency of the composition against a standard reference bacterin of Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium and Salmonella enterica serovar Dublin, respectively. Methods for determining whether an animal has the conditions disclosed herein and symptoms associated with the conditions are routine and known to the art (see, for instance, Zhang et al., Infect. Immun., 71:1-12 (2003)).
In one aspect the invention is also directed to treating a gram negative microbial infection in an animal in an animal. The method includes administering an effective amount of a composition of the present invention to an animal having or at risk of having a gram negative infection, and determining whether at least one symptom of the gram negative infection is reduced. The successful treatment of a gram negative microbial infection in an animal is disclosed in Examples 3-9. Working Examples 3-5, 6, and 9 demonstrate the protection against disease by caused by Salmonella enterica serovar Newport and by Salmonella enterica serovar Dublin in mouse models by administering a composition of the present invention. Working Examples 7-8 demonstrate the protection against disease by caused by E. coli O157:H7 in a mouse model by administering a composition of the present invention. These mouse models are a commonly accepted model for the study of human disease caused by these microbes.
The present invention is also directed to decreasing colonization of the intestinal tract or reproductive tract of an animal by a gram negative microbe. The method includes administering an effective amount of a composition of the present invention to an animal colonized by, or at risk of being colonized by a gram negative microbe. In this aspect of the invention, an “effective amount” is an amount effective to decrease colonization of the animal by the microbe. Colonization of an animal's intestinal tract by a microbe can be determined by measuring the presence of the microbe in the animal's feces. The successful decrease of colonization by Salmonella and by E. coli is disclosed in Examples 6, 7-8, 10-15, and 16-19. Working Examples 6 and 10-15 demonstrate the decreased colonization by Salmonella in mice and in cattle. Working Examples 7-8 and 16-19 demonstrate the decreased colonization by E. coli O157:H7 in mice and in cattle. Cattle are considered to be one of the important natural reservoirs of E. coli O157:H7 that contaminate food and cause human disease. Methods for evaluating the colonization of an animal's reproductive tract by a microbe are routine and known to the art. It is expected that decreasing the colonization of an animal by a microbe will reduce transmission of the microbe to humans.
A composition of the invention can be used to provide for active or passive immunization against bacterial infection. Generally, the composition can be administered to an animal to provide active immunization. However, the composition can also be used to induce production of immune products, such as antibodies, which can be collected from the producing animal and administered to another animal to provide passive immunity. Immune components, such as antibodies, can be collected to prepare antibody compositions from serum, plasma, blood, colostrum, etc. for passive immunization therapies. Antibody compositions comprising monoclonal antibodies and/or anti-idiotypes can also be prepared using known methods. Passive antibody compositions and fragments thereof, e.g., scFv, Fab, F(ab′)2 or Fv or other modified forms thereof, may be administered to a recipient in the form of serum, plasma, blood, colostrum, and the like. However, the antibodies may also be isolated from serum, plasma, blood, colostrum, and the like, using known methods for later use in a concentrated or reconstituted form such as, for instance, lavage solutions, impregnated dressings and/or topical agents and the like. Passive immunizing preparations may be particularly advantageous for treatment of acute systemic illness, or passive immunization of young animals that failed to receive adequate levels of passive immunity through maternal colostrum. Antibodies useful for passive immunization may also be useful to conjugate to various drugs or antibiotics that could be directly targeted to bacteria expressing these proteins during a systemic or localized infection.
Another aspect of the present invention provides methods for detecting antibody that specifically binds polypeptides of the present invention. These methods are useful in, for instance, detecting whether an animal has antibody that specifically bind polypeptides of the present invention, and diagnosing whether an animal may have a condition caused by a microbe expressing polypeptides described herein, or expressing polypeptides that share epitopes with the polypeptides described herein. Such diagnostic systems may be in kit form. The methods include contacting an antibody with a preparation that includes polypeptides of the present invention to result in a mixture. The antibody may be present in a biological sample, for instance, blood, milk, or colostrum. The method further includes incubating the mixture under conditions to allow the antibody to specifically bind the polypeptide to form a polypeptide:antibody complex. As used herein, the term “polypeptide:antibody complex” refers to the complex that results when an antibody specifically binds to a polypeptide. The preparation that includes the polypeptides of the present invention may also include reagents, for instance a buffer, that provide conditions appropriate for the formation of the polypeptide:antibody complex. The polypeptide:antibody complex is then detected. The detection of antibodies is known in the art and can include, for instance, immunofluorescence and peroxidase. The methods for detecting the presence of antibodies that specifically bind to polypeptides of the present invention can be used in various formats that have been used to detect antibody, including radioimmunoassay and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay.
The present invention also provides a kit for detecting antibody that specifically binds polypeptides of the present invention. The kit includes at least one of the polypeptides of the present invention, or a number of polypeptides that is an integer greater than 1 (e.g., at least 2, at least 3, etc.), in a suitable packaging material in an amount sufficient for at least one assay. Optionally, other reagents such as buffers and solutions needed to practice the invention are also included. Instructions for use of the packaged polypeptides are also typically included. As used herein, the phrase “packaging material” refers to one or more physical structures used to house the contents of the kit. The packaging material is constructed by well known methods, generally to provide a sterile, contaminant-free environment. The packaging material has a label which indicates that the polypeptides can be used for detecting antibody that specifically binds polypeptides of the present invention. In addition, the packaging material contains instructions indicating how the materials within the kit are employed to detect the antibody. As used herein, the term “package” refers to a solid matrix or material such as glass, plastic, paper, foil, and the like, capable of holding within fixed limits the polypeptides. Thus, for example, a package can be a microtiter plate well to which microgram quantities of polypeptides have been affixed. “Instructions for use” typically include a tangible expression describing the reagent concentration or at least one assay method parameter, such as the relative amounts of reagent and sample to be admixed, maintenance time periods for reagent/sample admixtures, temperature, buffer conditions, and the like.
The present invention is illustrated by the following examples. It is to be understood that the particular examples, materials, amounts, and procedures are to be interpreted broadly in accordance with the scope and spirit of the invention as set forth herein.
Example 1 Production and Isolation of Metal Regulated ProteinsGram negative enteric bacteria belonging to the families Enterobacteriaceae and Vibrionaceae as well as other gram negative bacteria can be grown under controlled fermentation conditions so as to express proteins, including proteins associated with the outer membrane. The bacteria can be harvested and the proteins can then be isolated and used as immunogens in a composition described in detail in the following example.
The immunizing compositions used in the following examples were prepared using the proteins derived from two enteric pathogens; a multi-drug resistant isolate of Salmonella enterica serovar Newport and an Escherichia coli O157:H7 isolate, both originating from a bovine species.
Salmonella enterica serovar Newport was isolated from fecal cultures of cows at a commercial dairy showing clinical signs of salmonellosis. This isolate was also recovered from the owners of the dairy who became sick after ingesting raw milk. Isolation was accomplished using Brilliant Green Sulfa broth and Brilliant Green Selective agar plates. The isolate was serotyped by the Centers for Veterinary Biologics Laboratory (Ames, Iowa) and by the Minnesota Poultry Testing Laboratory, Minnesota Board of Animal Health (Willmar, Minn.). The Escherichia coli isolate O157:H7 originated from steers isolated from a commercial feed lot. As detected by PCR, the strin was found to be serotype O157:H7, and possessed the eaeA and hlyA genes but not the stx1 and stx2 genes.
Master seed stocks of the Salmonella Newport and E. coli O157:H7 isolates were prepared by inoculating each of the isolates into 200 ml of Tryptic Soy Broth (Difco Laboratories, Detroit, Mich.) containing 50 micrograms per milliliter (μg/ml) of 2,2-dipyridyl (Sigma-Aldrich St. Louis, Mo.). The cultures were grown while stirring at 200 rpm for 6 hours at 37° C. The bacteria were collected by centrifugation at 10,000×g. The bacterial pellets from each isolate was resuspended into 100 ml physiological saline (0.85%) containing 20% glycerol, and sterilely dispensed into 2 ml cryogenic vials (1 ml per vial) and stored at −90° C. Each isolate was given an identification number designating it as a master seed. The master seed number for Salmonella Newport was MS020508 while the O157:H7 isolate was designated as BEcO157(stx-). Each master seed was expanded into a working seed that was then used for the production of metal regulated proteins. A large-scale production process was developed involving fermentation, bacterial harvest, disruption, solubilization, concentration, diafiltration, and isolation of final product.
FermentationA cryogenic vial of the working seed (1 ml at 109 CFU/ml) was used to inoculate 500 ml of 37° C. tryptic soy broth (TSB) without dextrose (Difco) containing 50 micrograms 2,2-dipyridyl (Sigma), 2.7 grams BiTek yeast extract (Difco) and glycerol (3% vol/vol). The culture was incubated at 37° C. for 12 hours while stirring at 200 rpm, and then added to 2 liters of the above media. This second culture was allowed to grow for an additional 4 hours at 37° C. This culture was used to inoculate a 20-liter Virtis bench-top fermentor, (Virtis, Gardiner, N.Y.) charged with 13 liters of the above-described media. The pH was held constant between 6.9 and 7.1 by automatic titration with 30% NaOH and 10% HCL. The stirring speed was adjusted to 400 revolutions per minute (rev/minute), and the culture aerated with 11 liters air/minute at 37° C. Foaming was controlled automatically by the addition of 11 ml defoamer (Mazu DF 204 Chem/Serv, Minneapolis, Minn.). The culture was allowed to grow continuously at these conditions for 4 hours at which time was sterilely pumped into a 150-liter fermentor (W. B. Moore, Easton, Pa.). The fermentor was charged with 115 liters TSB without dextrose (3,750.0 grams), BiTek yeast extract (625 grams), glycerol (3750 ml), 2,2-dypyrdyl (3.13 grams) and Mazu DF 204 defoamer (100 ml). The parameters of the fermentation were as follows: dissolved oxygen (DO) was maintained at 30%+/−10% by increasing agitation to 220 rev/minute sparged with 60 liters of air/minute and 10 pounds per square inch (psi) back pressure. The pH was held constant between 6.9 and 7.1 by automatic titration with 30% NaOH and 10% HCL. The temperature was maintained at 37° C. At hour 4.5 (optical density 8-9 at 540 nanometers), the culture was supplemented with additional nutrients by feeding 7 liters of media containing 1,875 grams TSB without dextrose, 313 grams yeast extract 3.13 grams 2,2-dipyridyl and 1,875 ml of glycerol. The rate of feed was adjusted to 29 ml/minute while increasing agitation to 675 rpm. At the end of the feed (hour 8.5) the fermentation was allowed to continue for an additional three hours at which point the fermentation was terminated by lowing the temperature of the fermentor to 10° C. (optical density 35-40 at 540 nanometers at a 1:100 dilution). The culture was sterilely transferred to a 200-liter tank (LEE Process Systems and Equipment model 2000LDBT) in preparation for harvest.
HarvestThe bacterial fermentation was concentrated and washed using a Pall Filtron Tangential Flow Maxiset-25 (Pall Filtron Corporation, Northboro, Mass.) equipped with two 30 ft2 Alpha 300-K open channel filters, catalog No. AS300C5, (Pall Filtron) connected to a Waukesha Model U-60 feed pump (Waukesha Chemy-Burrell, Delevan, Wis.) The original culture volume of 25 liters was reduced to 25 liters (2.5 liters/minute) using a filter inlet pressure of 15 psi and a retentate pressure of 0 psi. The bacterial retentate was adjusted back up to 50 liters using physiological saline (0.85%) and then concentrated again to 15 liters to help remove any contaminating exogenous proteins, etc. The retentate (15 liters) was adjusted to 35 liters using sterile Osmotic Shock Buffer (OMS) containing 7.26 grams/liter Tris-base and 0.93 grams/liter EDTA adjusted to a pH of 8.5. The EDTA in the OMS serves to remove much of LPS from the cell wall, while the elevated pH prevents much of the proteolytic degradation after freezing and disruption. Protease inhibitors may be used instead of, or in addition to, an elevated pH. The retentate was mixed thoroughly while in the 200-liter tank using a bottom mount magnetically driven mixer. The retentate was sterilely dispensed (3.5 liters) into sterile 4 liter Nalgene containers No. 2122 and placed into a −20° C. freezer for storage. Freezing the bacterial pellet serves to weaken the cell wall structure making downstream disruption more efficient. The pellet mass was calculated by centrifuging 30 ml samples of the fermented culture and final harvest. Briefly, pre-weighted 50 ml Nalgene conical tubes were centrifuged at 39,000×g for 90 minutes in a Beckman J2-21 centrifuge using a JA-21 rotor (Beckman Instruments, Palo Alto Calif.). At the end of the run, the supernate was poured off and the tubes were weighed again. The pellet mass was calculated for each stage. The fermentation process yielded a wet pellet mass of 9.0 kilograms.
Disruption (Homogenization)Twenty kilograms of frozen bacterial cell slurry in OMS were thawed at 4° C. (20 kg of pellet mass). The liquid culture suspension from each container was aseptically aspirated into a steam in place 250 liter jacketed process tank (Lee, Model 259LU) with a top mounted mixer (Eastern, Model TME-1/2, EMI Incorporated, Clinton, Conn.) containing 222 liters OMS pH 8.5 containing 0.1 grams thimerosal/liter as preservative. The volume of OMS was determined by dividing the pellet mass (in grams) by 900 and then multiplying the result by 10 to get the homogenizing volume in liters (gram pellet mass/900×10=liters homogenizing volume). The bulk bacterial suspension was chilled to 4° C. with continuous mixing for 18 hours at 200 rpm at which time it was disrupted by homogenization. Briefly, the 250 liter tank containing the bacterial suspension was connected to a model 12.51 H Rannie Homogenizer, (APV Systems, Rosemont, Ill.). A second 250 liter jacketed process tank (empty) was connected to the homogenizer such that the fluid in the process tank could be passed through the homogenizer, into the empty tank and back again, allowing for multiple homogenizing passes while still maintaining a closed system. The temperature during homogenization was kept at 4° C. At the start of each pass, fluid was circulated at 70 psi via a Waukesha model 10DO pump (Waukesha) through the homogenizer (160 gallons/hour) and back to the tank of origin, while the homogenizer pressure was adjusted to 13,500 psi. Prior to the first pass, two pre-homogenizing samples were withdrawn from the homogenizer to establish a baseline for determining the degree of disruption and monitoring of pH. The degree of disruption was monitored by transmittance (% T at 540 nm at 1:100 dilution) compared to the non-homogenized sample. The number of passes through the homogenizer was standardized for different organisms based on the integrity of the cell wall and variation in the degree of disruption, which had a direct correlation in the efficiency of solubilization and quality of end product. For example, the disruption of Salmonella passed three times through the homogenizer gave a final percent transmittance between 78-83% T at a 1:100 dilution. E. coli having the same pellet mass and starting OD gave a % T of 86-91% (at a 1:100 dilution) after the third pass. It has been observed that bacteria differ in their cell wall integrity and vary in their capacity of disruption under identical condition. This variation can effect the degree and efficiency of solubilization and recovery of metal regulated proteins. In general, cells were passed through the homogenizer until the transmittance did not increase after an additional pass.
After homogenization, Sodium Lauroyl Sarcosinate (Hamptosyl L-30, Chem/Serv) was aseptically added to the homogenized bacterial suspension for solubilization. The amount of Sarcosine (30%) added equaled 0.0664 times the solubilizing volume, in liters, (1.0 gram sarcosine/4.5 grams pellet mass). The tank was removed from the homogenizer and put onto a chiller loop at 4° C. and mixed at 240 rpm for 60-70 hours. This time period was important for complete solubilization. It was discovered that increasing the solubilization time in OMS at an elevated pH (8.0-8.5) that metal regulated proteins aggregated together forming large insoluble aggregates that were easily removed by centrifugation. The optimal OD after solubilization was usually between 25-30% T at 540 nm.
Protein HarvestThe aggregated metal regulated proteins within the solubilized process fluid were collected by centrifugation using T-1 Sharples, (Alfa Laval Seperations, Warminster, Pa.). Briefly, the tank of solubilized homogenate was fed into six Sharples with a feed rate of 250 ml/minute at 17 psi at a centrifugal force of 46,000×g. The effluent was collected into a second 250 liter jacketed process tank through a closed sterile loop allowing for multiple passes through the centrifuges while maintaining a closed system. The temperature during centrifugation was kept at 4° C. The solubilized homogenate was passed 8 times across the centrifuges. Fifty percent of the protein was collected after the second pass, at which point the solubilized fluid was concentrated to ⅓ of its original volume. This decrease in volume shortened the process time for the next 6 passes. Briefly, the solubilized homogenate tank was aseptically disconnected from the centrifuges and connected to a Millipore Pellicon Tangential Flow Filter assembly (Millipore Corporation, Bedford, Mass.), equipped with a 25 ft2 screen-channel series Alpha 10K Centrasette filter (Pall Filtron) connected to a Waukesha Model U30 feed pump for concentration. After concentration, centrifugation was continued until the process was completed. Protein was collected after each pass. The protein was collected, resuspended and dispensed in 50 liters Tris-buffer pH 8.5 containing 0.3% formalin (Sigma) as preservative.
DiafiltrationThe protein suspension was washed by diafiltration at 4° C. to remove any contaminating sarcosine that may have been bound to the protein. Briefly, the 50 liters of protein was sterilely aspirated into a 200 liter process tank containing 50 liters sterile Tris-buffer, pH 8.5, equipped with a bottom mount Dayton mixer, Model 2Z846 (Dayton Electric, Chicago, Ill.) rotating at 125 rev/minute. The process tank was sterilely connected to a Millipore Pellicon Tangential Flow Filter assembly (Millipore Corporation), equipped with a 25 ft2 screen-channel series Alpha 10K Centrasette filter (Pall Filtron) connected to a Waukesha Model U30 feed pump. The 100 liter protein solution was concentrated by filtration to a target volume of 5.45 times the protein pellet mass, at which point Tris-buffer, pH 7.4, containing 5% isopropyl alcohol was slowly added to the concentrate from a second process tank. Isopropyl alcohol is believed to cause a slight unfolding of the protein structure allowing for the removal of bound sarcosine without compromising the immunogenicity of the protein. Diafiltration continued until the pH stabilized to 7.4 at which point 50 liters Tris-buffer pH 7.4 was slowly added by diafiltration to remove residual alcohol. The protein suspension was then concentrated to approximately 25 liters. The protein concentrate was aseptically dispensed (3.5 liters) into sterile 4 liter Nalgene containers and placed into a −20° C. freezer for storage.
This process produces a composition containing metal regulated proteins with a decrease in the amount of LPS and very little to no sarcosine residue. The protein was examined by SDS-PAGE for purity and banding profile, and also examined for bacterial contamination, residual sarcosine and LPS. The banding profile of the finished product showed consistent patterns as examined by electrophoresis. The composition was tested for sarcosine by the use of a modified agar gel diffusion test in which sheep red blood cells (5%) were incorporated into an agar base (1.5%). Wells were cut into the agar and samples of the finished product along with control samples of known concentrations of sarcosine at 0.05, 0.1, 0.2, 0.3, 0.4, 0.5 1.0 and 2.0% were placed into the wells. The gel was incubated at 25° C. for 24 hours and the degree of hemolysis was determined compared to the controls. The process removes the level of detectable sarcosine below 0.05%, which at this concentration showed minimal hemolysis in control samples. The concentration of LPS is examined by a Limulus amebocyte lysate (LAL) test available under the tradename PYROTELL (Associates of Cape Cod, Inc., East Falmouth, Mass.).
The compositions used in the following examples were prepared and harvested as described in Example 1. The efficacy of each composition was evaluated in separate experiments based on the route of challenge. Data was collected on the following parameters; 1) the potency of the immunizing compositions, which was evaluated against a live virulent challenge given intraperitoneally to measure systemic protection, 2) the efficacy of each composition, which was evaluated after administering the challenge dose orally to evaluate the effect on colonization or fecal shedding of the challenge organism, and 3) examination of the injection sites for any adverse tissue reaction.
Example 2 Preparation of the Immunizing Compositions Derived from S. enterica Serovar Newport and E. coli O157:H7The proteins made from S. enterica serovar Newport and E. coli as described in Example 1 were used to prepare two compositions for administration to animals. The composition prepared from S. enterica serovar Newport contained the proteins described in Table 2, and the composition prepared from E. coli O157:H7 contained the proteins described in Table 6. A stock vaccine was prepared from each composition by emulsifying the aqueous protein suspension (500 μg total protein/ml) into the commercial adjuvant, EMULSIGEN, (MVP Laboratories, Ralston, Nebr.) using an IKA Ultra Turrax T-50 homogenizing vessel (IKA, Cincinnati, Ohio). The stock vaccine was used at two different injectable volumes depending on the target animal it would be used in. A mouse dose was administered to give a final dose of 50 μg total protein in a 0.1 ml injectable volume with an adjuvant concentration of 22.5% vol/vol. The bovine dose was given using a two milliliter injectable volume to provide a dose of 1000 μg total protein. A placebo was prepared by replacing the antigen with physiological saline in the above formulation and emulsifying the suspension into EMULSIGEN to give and adjuvant concentration of 22.5%.
A standard reference bacterin of Salmonella enterica serovar Dublin was obtained from the Center of Veterinary Biologics-Laboratory (United States Department of Agriculture, Ames, Iowa, strain APHIS NVSL #82, Salmonella Dublin, Lot Number IRP DSC #5) for use as a control reference in accordance with the standardized mouse model described in 9 CFR 113.123. This was provided as a whole cell bacterin prepared in AlOH.
Example 3 Mouse Vaccination and Challenge Study Systemic EvaluationThe efficacy of the S. enterica serovar Newport vaccine was carried out against a live virulent challenge in mice. One hundred twenty five (N=125) female CF-1 mice obtained from Harlan Breeding Laboratories (Indianapolis, Ind.) weighing 16-22 grams were equally distributed into five groups (25 mice/group). Mice were housed in polycarbonate mouse cages (Ancore Corporation, Bellmore, N.Y.). Two cages were used for each treatment group to minimize the number of mice for each cage. Groups were designated as 1-5. Food and water were supplied ad libitum to all mice.
The potency of the vaccine was tested at four different concentrations; non-diluted stock vaccine (Group 1, 50 μg/0.1 ml), 1:10 (volume diluent:volume protein solution) (Group 2, 5.0 μg/0.1 ml), 1:100 (Group 4, 0.5 μg/0.1 ml), 1:1000 (Group 4, 0.05 μg/0.1 ml) and a Placebo (non-vaccinated/challenged control group) (Group 5). EMULISIGEN was used as the diluent for diluting the stock vaccine so as to maintain the concentration of adjuvant at a 22.5% for each treatment group. Mice were vaccinated intraperitoneally two times at 14 day intervals. The volume administered was 0.1 ml/mouse.
Example 4 Preparation of Challenge OrganismThe S. enterica serovar Newport as described above was used for challenge. Briefly, the isolate from a frozen stock was streaked onto a blood agar plate and incubated at 37° C. for 18 hours. A single colony was subcultured into 50 ml Tryptic Soy Broth (Difco) containing 25 μg/ml 2,2′ dipyridyl. The culture was incubated at 37° C. for 6 hours while rotating at 200 rpm, at which point was centrifuged at 10,000×g for 10 minutes at 4° C. to pellet the bacteria. The bacterial pellet was washed twice by centrifugation in physiological saline at 4° C. The final pellet was resuspended in 25 ml of physiological saline and used for challenge. Just prior to challenge, 1 ml of the above bacterial suspension was serially diluted ten fold to enumerate the number of CFU/mouse dose.
Example 5 ChallengeFourteen days after the 2nd vaccination, mice in groups 1-5 were intraperitoneally challenged with 0.2 ml of S. enterica serovar Newport at 7.6×108 colony forming units (CFU) prepared as described at example 4. Mortality was recorded daily for 14 days after challenge. The results showed a strong protective index that correlated with dilution of the vaccine (Table 18). Twenty five (100%) of the non-vaccinated mice (Group 5) died within 14 days after challenge. In contrast, only 1 mouse (4.0%) died given the non-diluted vaccine of Group 1. Mortality increased with each 10 fold serial dilution as seen in
In this experiment the efficacy of the S. enterica serovar Newport vaccine was carried out against a live oral challenge in mice. The outcome parameters used to evaluate vaccine efficacy in this experiment were 1) individual mouse mortality, and 2) differences in the concentration of Salmonella being shed between treatment groups after challenge. Twenty (N=20) female CF-1 mice obtained from Harlan Breeding Laboratories (Indianapolis, Ind.) weighing 16-22 grams were equally distributed into two groups (10 mice/group). Mice were housed in polycarbonate mouse cages (Ancore Corporation, Bellmore, N.Y.). Two cages were used, one for each treatment group. Groups were designated as placebo, non-vaccinated (Group 1) and vaccinated (Group 2). Food and water were supplied ad libitum to all mice.
Mice were vaccinated three times at 14 day intervals subcutaneously with the placebo and/or the S. enterica serovar Newport vaccines of Example 2. The volume of vaccine administered was 0.1 ml/mouse. Seven days after the third vaccination, mice in groups 1 and 2 were orally challenged with S. enterica serovar Newport at 2.8×108 colony forming units (CFU) in a volume of 0.2 cc. The challenge organism was prepared as described in example 4.
To enumerate the difference in fecal shedding between the control and vaccinated groups, mouse droppings were collected at 12, 24, 36 and 48 hours post challenge. Droppings were collected by placing a sterile pad on the floor of each cage 1 hour prior to collection. At each time period the pad was removed and placed into a laminar flow hood. Using sterilely flamed forceps, twenty individual droppings were randomly collected. The forceps were flamed between each collection so as not to cross-contaminate samples. Individual droppings were placed into sterile saline dilution blanks (0.9 ml), two droppings per tube to give ten tubes. Each sample was macerated using a sterile 1 ml pipette and serially diluted 10 fold. Dilutions were plated on Brilliant Green Sulfur Agar (Difco Laboratories, Detroit, Mich.) incubated at 37 C for 48 hours. The number of bacteria was enumerated for each sample and the log10 colony forming units were averaged for each treatment group at each time period.
Table 19 shows the difference in the fecal shedding between vaccinated and non-vaccinated mice after an oral challenge with S. enterica serovar Newport at each time period. There was a large difference between treatment groups in the amount of Salmonella shedding in feces post-challenge. The challenge dose represented as time 0 in Table 4 shows the initial inoculum given to each mouse. Within twelve hours post challenge there was a dramatic decrease in the amount of Salmonella being shed from the vaccinated group as compared to the Placebo group. Averaged across the study period and accounting for repeated estimates, vaccinates shed less Salmonella at each sampling period when compared to non-vaccinates, with a degree of significance of P=0.02. The amount of Salmonella being shed in the vaccinated group dramatically declined with each sampling period as compared to the non-vaccinated Placebo group (
At the 12 hour sampling period three mice (30%) died in the vaccinated group with no further mortality occurring within 14 days after challenge. Nevertheless, in the non-vaccinated Placebo group three mice died within 12 and 24 hours and 4 mice died between 48 and 56 hours (70% total). It's interesting to note that mortality seemed to be directly correlated with the amount of Salmonella being shed. This is illustrated in the vaccinated group where mortality occurred at an early stage where the level of Salmonella being shed was high (Table 19,
Due to the unequal distribution in the number of mice between groups after 48 hours no further sampling was carried out beyond this time period. Nevertheless, the results clearly demonstrate that subcutaneous vaccination with the composition can prevent colonization by Salmonella. In addition, the secondary sequelae due to systemic infection was also inhibited as seen in the difference in mortality between the two groups.
Example 7 Mouse Vaccination and Oral Challenge Study with Escherichia coli O157:H7 Evaluation of Fecal SheddingIn this experiment, the efficacy of the Escherichia coli O157:H7 vaccine of example 2 was carried out against a live oral challenge in mice. The outcome parameter used to evaluate the efficacy of the vaccine in this experiment was to enumerate differences in the concentration of the challenge organism being shed between treatment groups after challenge. Twenty (N=20) female CF-1 mice obtained from Harlan Breeding Laboratories (Indianapolis, Ind.) weighing 16-22 grams were equally distributed into two groups (10 mice/group). Mice were housed in polycarbonate mouse cages (Ancore Corporation, Bellmore, N.Y.). Two cages were used, one for each treatment group. Groups were designated as placebo, non-vaccinated (Group 1) and vaccinated (Group 2). Food and water were supplied ad libitum to all mice.
Mice were vaccinated three times at 14 day intervals subcutaneously with the placebo and/or the E. coli O157:H7 vaccines of Example 2. The volume of vaccine administered was 0.1 ml/mouse.
Example 8 Preparation of E. coli O157:H7 Challenge OrganismTo enhance the isolation rate of the E. coli O157:H7 challenge organism from fecal samples the isolate was made nalidixic acid resistant. Briefly, the isolate from a frozen stock was streaked onto Eosin Methylene Blue (EMB) agar plate and incubated at 37° C. for 18 hours. A single colony was subcultured into 50 ml Tryptic Soy Broth (Difco) containing 25 μg/ml2,2′ dipyridyl. The culture was incubated at 37° C. for 6 hours while rotating at 200 rpm, at which point was subcultured into Tryptic Soy Broth containing 25 μg/ml 2,2 dipyridyl and 100 μg/ml nalidixic acid and again incubated at 37° C. for 18 hours. One hundred microliters of the above culture containing approximately 108 CFU/ml viable organisms was spread over the surface of an EMB agar plate containing 500 μg nalidixic acid. The plates were incubated at 37° C. for 48 hours and the colonies that grew were cloned by plating on EMB containing 100 μg/ml nalidixic acid. A number of nalidixic acid resistant colonies were amplified by sub-culturing into TSB containing 25 μg/ml 2,2 dipyridyl and 100 μg/ml nalidixic acid. A stable nalidixic acid resistant isolate was selected as the challenge organism by sub-culturing the isolate continuously in TSB containing 100 μg/ml nalidixic acid to enhance the stability of the organism. The outer membrane protein profile of the nalidixic acid resistant isolate expressed identical banding profiles as the parent wild type grown under iron-restriction having molecular weights of 89 kDa, 85 kDa, 81 kDa, 78 kDa and porins at 36-39 kDa. The nalidixic acid resistant isolate of E. coli O157:H7 was maintained as a frozen stock culture in TSB containing 25 μg/ml 2,2 dipyridyl, 100 μg/ml nalidixic acid and 20% glycerol stored at −90° C.
The nalidixic acid resistant isolate of E. coli O157:H7 as described above was used for challenge. The isolate from the frozen stock was sub-cultured onto an EMB agar plate containing 150 μg/ml nalidixic acid and incubated at 37° C. for 18 hours. A single colony was subcultured into 50 ml Tryptic Soy Broth (Difco) containing 25 μ/ml 2,2′ dipyridyl and 250 μg nalidixic acid. The culture was incubated at 37° C. for 6 hours while rotating at 200 rpm, at which point was centrifuged at 10,000×g for 10 minutes at 4° C. to pellet the bacteria. The bacterial pellet was washed twice by centrifugation in physiological saline at 4° C. The final pellet was resuspended in 25 ml of physiological saline containing 250 μg nalidixic acid and used for challenge. Just prior to challenge, 1 ml of the above bacterial suspension was serially diluted ten fold to enumerate the number of CFU/mouse dose.
Seven days after the third vaccination, mice in groups 1 and 2 were orally challenged with 0.2 ml of the nalidixic acid resistant isolate of E. coli at 2.0×108 CFU.
To enumerate the difference in fecal shedding between the control and vaccinated groups, mouse droppings were collected at 12, 24, 36, 48, 56 and 72 hours post challenge. Droppings were collected as before by placing a sterile pad on the floor of each cage 1 hour prior to collection. At each time period the pad was removed and placed into a laminar flow hood. Using sterilely flamed forceps twenty individual droppings were randomly collected. The forceps were flamed between each collection so as not to cross-contaminate samples. Individual droppings were placed into sterile saline dilution blanks (0.9 ml), two droppings per tube to give ten tubes. Each sample was macerated using a sterile 1 ml pipette and serially diluted 10 fold. Dilutions were plated on EMB agar containing 150 μg nalidixic acid/ml incubated at 37 C for 48 hours. The number of bacteria was enumerated for each sample and the log10 colony forming units were averaged for each treatment group at each time period.
Table 20 shows the difference in the fecal shedding between vaccinated and non-vaccinated mice after an oral challenge with the nalidixic acid resistant isolate of E. coli. There was a significant difference in the amount of E. coli O157:H7 being shed between groups at each sampling period. The challenge dose represented as time 0 in Table 20 shows the initial inoculum given to each mouse. Within twelve hours post challenge there was a dramatic decrease in the amount of E. coli O157:H7 being shed from the vaccinated group as compared to the Placebo group with a degree of significance of P=0.03. The amount of E. coli O157:H7 being shed in the vaccinated group dramatically declined with each sampling period as compared to the non-vaccinated mice (
Between the 12 and 24 hour sampling period two mice (20.0%) died in the vaccinated group with no further mortality occurring within 14 days after challenge. However, in the non-vaccinated Placebo group five mice (50.0%) died during the sampling period with no further mortality occurring after 72 hours or within the 14 day observation period.
These results demonstrate for the first time that a vaccine composition as described herein can prevent the colonization and/or growth of E. coli O157:H7 through a subcutaneous vaccination as well as reduce mortality due to the secondary sequelae from systemic infection.
Example 9 The Cross Protective Nature of Metal Regulated Proteins Against a Homologous and Heterologous Salmonella Challenge in MiceThe vaccine Example 2 derived from S. enterica serovar Newport was evaluated against a homologous and heterologous challenge using S. enterica serovar Dublin in a standardized mouse model as described in the Code of Federal Regulations, Title 9, section 113.123.
Two hundred ten (N=210) female Harlan CF-1 mice obtained from Harlan Breeding Laboratories (Indianapolis, Ind.) weighing 16-22 grams were equally divided into 9 treatment groups (20 mice/group) designated as groups 1-9. The efficacy of each vaccine was tested at four different concentrations. The whole cell S. enterica serovar Dublin reference bacterin as described in example 2 was administered to four groups designated as groups 1-4; Group 1 (non-diluted, 50 μg total protein), Group 2, (1:10 dilution, 5.0 μg total protein), Group 3, (1:100 dilution, 0.5 μg total protein) and Group 4, (1:1000 dilution, 0.05 μg total protein). The S. enterica serovar Newport vaccine was also administered at the same dilutions as described above in the same number of mice, designated as groups 5-8 Group 5 (non-diluted), Group 6 (1:10), Group 7 (1:100) and Group 8 (1:1000) respectively. Group 9 was the control group that was not vaccinated, but challenged. Since the Salmonella reference bacterin was prepared using whole cells and supplied from an outside source the protein concentration was unknown. EMULISIGEN was used as the diluent for diluting the composition prepared using MS020508 at a 22.5% concentration prepared in physiological saline. The S. enterica serovar Dublin reference bacterin was diluted using phosphate buffered saline (PBS). All mice in groups 1-4 and 5-8 were vaccinated with the appropriate vaccine intraperitoneally and revaccinated 14 days after the first vaccination. The volume administered was 0.25 ml per mouse.
Fourteen days after the second vaccination, all mice in groups 1-9 were intraperitoneally challenged with 9.8×107 colony forming units (CFU) of a virulent Salmonella enterica serovar Dublin isolate to evaluate the cross-protective nature of the S. enterica serovar Newport vaccine against a S. enterica serovar Dublin challenge (S. enterica serovar Newport vaccinated/S. enterica serovar Dublin challenged) compared to the homologous group (S. enterica serovar Dublin vaccinated/S. enterica serovar Dublin challenged) The virulent Salmonella enterica serovar Dublin isolate was obtained from The Center of Veterinary Biologics-Laboratory (IRP SDC #5, United States Department of Agriculture, Ames, Iowa). Mortality was recorded daily for 2 weeks post-challenge. Table 21 shows the percent mortality in mice following a homologous and/or heterologous challenge with S. enterica serovar Dublin.
Twenty (100%) of the non-vaccinated mice (Group 9) died within 3 days after challenge (Table 21). Mice vaccinated with the composition derived from S. enterica serovar Newport and challenged with S. enterica serovar Dublin showed a high degree of cross-protection (Group 1) when compared to mice vaccinated with the S. enterica serovar Dublin reference bacterin (Group 5). There was no difference in mortality between these two groups. This data shows that the composition derived from S. enterica serovar Newport was protective against a live S. enterica serovar Dublin challenge as compared to the non-vaccinated control mice. Further, the composition derived from S. enterica serovar Newport protected against a different serogroup of Salmonella showing heterologous protection: S. enterica serovar Newport is typed as serogroup C2 whereas S. enterica serovar Dublin is a D1 serogroup.
The results from this study provide strong evidence that the composition includes highly protective antigens that protect against a homologous and heterologous Salmonella challenge in mammals.
Example 10 Experimental S. enterica Serovar Newport Challenge in CalvesThe purpose of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of the Salmonella Newport vaccine described in Example 2 against a homologous S. enterica serovar Newport challenge in calves. The parameters used to evaluate vaccine efficacy were 1) individual calf morbidity as evidenced by rectal temperature, and 2) serological response to vaccination and quantitative enumeration of fecal shedding of S. enterica serovar Newport.
Thirty male Holstein steers (N=30) 4 to 6 months of age were randomly assigned to two treatment groups, designated as Group 1 and Group 2. Group 1, which consisted of 20 steers, received the immunizing composition derived from S. enterica serovar Newport strain MS020508 as described in Example 2. Steers in Group 2, which consisted of 10 steers (N=10), were vaccinated with a placebo (control group) made by preparing the immunizing composition of example 2 without the addition of the composition derived from S. enterica serovar Newport. The antigen in the control formulation was replaced with saline while keeping the adjuvant concentration the same (22.5%). All calves in groups 1 and 2 were vaccinated with the appropriate vaccine subcutaneously and revaccinated 21 days after the first vaccination.
Example 11 Blood and Fecal Sample CollectionBlood samples were collected from all steers on day 7 and again at 28, 42 and 49 days after the first vaccination. The second vaccination was 28 days after the first vaccination. All blood was collected in sterile 13×75 mm vacutainer collection tubes, (SST No. 369783, Becton Dickinson, Franklin Lakes, N.J.). After clotting the blood tubes were centrifuged at 800×g for 30 minutes and frozen at −20° C. until analysis.
Individual fecal samples were taken aseptically by rectal extraction using sterile shoulder length gloves and placed in sterile whirl pack bags. Fecal samples were taken from all steers at three day intervals (3, 6, 9, 12, 15 and 18) (Table 22).
Ten grams of feces from each sample was placed into 90 ml of Bismuth Sulfate Broth (BSG) (Difco). Samples were mixed thoroughly and serially diluted ten fold (10−2 to 10−6) using BSG as diluent. Samples were incubated at 37 C for 24 hours. The end point for each sample was enumerated by plating in duplicate each dilution on Brilliant Green Salmonella selective agar. Positive cultures were confirmed by agglutination using Salmonella O antiserum (poly A-I and Vi). The highest dilution that had a positive Salmonella culture was determined as the end point.
A frozen culture of S. enterica serovar Newport challenge organism (MS020508) was streaked on a Blood agar plate and incubated at 37° C. Several isolated colonies were transferred onto 100 ml of Tryptic Soy Broth (TSB) containing 25 μg/ml 2,2′ dipyridyl and incubated on and orbital shaker at 200 rpm/min for 12 hours. Twenty five milliliters of this culture was transferred into 3500 ml of pre-warmed TSB. The culture was incubated at 37° C. for 5 hours at which point the cells were collected by centrifugation at 10,000×g for 20 minutes. The bacterial pellet was washed twice by centrifugation with the final pellet resuspended into 3000 ml of sterile physiological saline (0.85%). Just prior to challenge, 1 ml of the above bacterial suspension was serially diluted ten fold to enumerate the number of CFU per ml.
Example 13 S. enterica Serovar Newport Challenge in Holstein CalvesSixteen days after the second vaccination all calves were orally lavaged with 100 ml of the above bacterial suspension containing 1.0×1012 Colony Forming Units (CFU) of S. enterica serovar Newport. Calves were monitored daily for signs of morbidity and rectal temperatures for 18 days post-challenge. Rectal temperatures were taken at three day intervals. Fecal samples were collected approximately every 3 days for the isolation of Salmonella. Rectal temperature and the quantitative enumeration of Salmonella was analyzed using linear regression, while the likelihood of being culture-positive (yes/no) was analyzed using logistic regression.
Example 14 Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay (ELISA)An Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay (ELISA) was used to monitor the serological response to vaccination. Three highly conserved proteins present in the composition prepared as described in Example 1 were used. Briefly, the proteins migrating at 82 kDa, 80 kDa, and 74 kDa were cut from unstained polyacrylamide gels. The location of these proteins was determined using a stained indicator lane which was cut away from the original gel and stained. Elution of the protein from the macerated gel was carried out according to the manufacturer's recommendation using a model 422 electro-eluter (Bio-Rad, Laboratories, Hercules, Calif.). These proteins were then used as the capture molecule in an indirect ELISA test. A polyclonal antiserum was raised against the composition derived from S. enterica serovar Newport as described in Example 1 and used as the ELISA positive control serum.
The optimum working concentrations of the purified protein and chromogenic conjugate was determined by several checkerboard titrations using the positive and negative control dialysates. A prediction curve was then established to calculate protein-ELISA titers at a 1:500 dilution. All subsequent tests were performed at a single serum dilution (1:500) and protein titers were calculated as an average of the test absorbance values for each treatment.
The ELISA was performed by adding 100 μl of diluted protein in 0.05M carbonate buffer (pH 9.6) to each well of a 96-well flat bottom plate (Immulon 2, Dynex Technologies). After overnight incubation at 4° C., excess protein was removed and the plate was washed. All subsequent washing steps were done three times in phosphate buffered saline (pH 7.4) with 0.05% Tween-20. The plates were blocked for one hour at 37° C. with 4% fish gelatin (Sigma) in PBS and then washed. Serum samples were tested in parallel at single-point dilutions (1:500) using 100 μl/well and incubated for 45 minutes at 37° C. The first two columns of each plate contained the negative and positive control samples while the rest of the plate was used for the test samples. The plate was incubated for 45 minutes at 37° C. while stirring at 200 rpm. After washing, 100 μl of a Monoclonal Anti-bovine IgG clone BG-18 Alkaline phosphatase conjugate (Sigma Chemical) at a 1:15,000 dilution was added to each well. After incubation for 45 minutes at 37° C., the plates were washed and 100 μl PnPP substrate (Sigma Chemical), prepared in 0.1 M glycine buffer, was added to each well. The substrate was allowed to react for 45 minutes at 37° C. while stirring at 100 rpm. The reaction was terminated by the addition of 25 ul of 3.0 N NaOH. The absorbance was read at 405 nm.
Example 15 ResultsCalves vaccinated with the composition derived from S. enterica serovar Newport showed an enhanced serological response to vaccination which increased after the second vaccination showing an anamnestic response after the second vaccination (
There was a significant difference between the rectal temperature of the vaccinates (Table 23) compared to the non-vaccinated calves (Placebo) during the post challenge period (Table 24). Averaged across the study period the rectal temperatures for the non-vaccinates was approximately 0.4 F (95% CI=0.01-0.79 F) higher when compared to vaccinates (P=0.045).
There was a significant difference in the amount of Salmonella being shed between the vaccinated group compared to the non-vaccinated Placebo group after challenge (
The purpose of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of the composition derived from E. coli O157:H7 in eliminating the fecal shedding of a homologous oral challenge of E. coli O157:H7 in Holstein steers. The immunizing composition was prepared from E. coli O157:H7 as described in Examples 1 and 2. The experimental trial was initiated in starter calves on a commercial feed lot. The feed lot consisted of 500 Holstein steers separated into separate grow out facilities based on the age and weight of the steers. Twelve steers (N=12) with an average weight of approximately 300 pounds were randomly selected and distributed into a single pen. Steers were ear tagged for identification and randomly allocated into three groups designated as groups 1-3. Steers in Group 1 were designated as non-vaccinated and remained as the control group. Steers in groups 1 and 2 were given two different vaccine formulations prepared in using two different adjuvant formulations. Steers in Group 2 were vaccinated with the vaccine adjuvanted with EMULSIGEN as described previously in Example 2, while steers in Group 3 were vaccinated with the vaccine prepared in aluminum hydroxide (Rehydagel-HPA, Reheis, N.J.). Briefly, the composition was suspended in 0.02M phosphate buffered saline pH 7.2 and absorbed onto aluminum hydroxide (25% vol/vol) to provide a total dose of 1000 μg in a 2 ml injectable volume. Steers were vaccinated subcutaneously 3 times at 21 day intervals. The outcome parameters used to evaluate vaccine efficacy were frequency and concentration of fecal shedding of the challenge organism, serological response to vaccination, and injection site reactions.
Example 17 Blood and Fecal Sample CollectionBlood samples were collected from all test steers on the initial day of immunization (day-0) and again at 7, 14, 21, 28, 35, 42, and 54 days after the first vaccination to monitor the serological response to vaccination. An Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay (ELISA) monitored the serological response to vaccination as described in Example 14 with the following modification: metal regulated proteins derived from E. coli O157:H7 having molecular weights of 89 kDa, 85 kDa, 81 kDa, 78 kDa, were used as the capture molecule in the assay. All blood was collected in sterile 13×75 millimeter vacutainer collection tubes (SST No. 369783, Becton Dickinson, Franklin Lakes, N.J.). After clotting, the blood tubes were centrifuged at 800×g for thirty minutes and frozen at −20° C.
Individual fecal samples were taken aseptically by rectal extraction using sterile shoulder length gloves and placed in sterile whirl pack bags. Fecal samples were taken from all steers on the initial day of challenge and again at 12, 24, 48, 72, 96, 120, 144 and 168 hours post challenge. Briefly, ten grams of feces from each sample was placed into 90 ml of physiological saline (0.85%). Samples were mixed thoroughly and serially diluted 10-fold in saline. Each dilution was plated in duplicate on Eosin Methylene Blue Agar (EMB) agar containing 150 μg nalidixic acid/ml incubated at 37° C. for 48 hours. The number of bacteria was enumerated for each sample and the log10 colony forming units was averaged for each treatment group at each time period.
Seven days after the third vaccination steers were transported from the commercial feedlot to a Biosafety level 2 isolation facility. Steers were equally divided among three isolation rooms so that each room had at least one treatment group. Four days after arriving at the isolation facility all steers were challenged. Twelve hours prior to challenge feed and water was removed from each isolation room. The E. coli O157:H7 isolate as described in Example 1 was used for challenge.
Example 18 Preparation of E. coli O157:H7Challenge OrganismTo enhance the isolation rate of the E. coli O157:H7 challenge organism from fecal samples the nalidixic acid resistant isolate as described in Example 8 was used for challenge. Forty eight hours before challenge the isolate was removed from a frozen stock and sub-cultured onto an EMB agar plate containing 150 μg/ml nalidixic acid and incubated at 37° C. for 18 hours. A single colony was subcultured into 100 ml Tryptic Soy Broth (Difco) containing 25 μg/ml 2,2′ dipyridyl and 150 μg nalidixic acid. The culture was incubated at 37° C. for 12 hours while rotating at 200 rpm, at which point was subcultured into 4 liters Tryptic Soy Broth (Difco) containing 25 μg/ml 2,2′ dipyridyl and 150 μg nalidixic acid incubated at 37° C. for 6 hours while continuously stirring. At the end of the incubation period the culture was centrifuged at 10,000×g for 20 minutes at 4° C. to pellet the bacteria. The final bacterial pellet was resuspended in 3600 ml of phosphate buffered saline containing 250 μg/ml nalidixic acid. Just prior to challenge, 1 ml of the above bacterial suspension was serially diluted ten fold to enumerate the number of CFU/calf dose.
Example 19 E. coli O157:H7Challenge in Holstein CalvesAll steers were orally lavaged with 100 ml of the above bacterial suspension containing 4.5×109 CFU. To enumerate the difference in fecal shedding between the control and vaccinated steers, individual fecal samples were collected aseptically by rectal extraction at the time of challenge and again at 12, 24, 48, 72, 96, 120, 144 and 168 hours post challenge. Blood samples were taken at the time of challenge and again at termination of the trial (168 hours).
Table 25 shows the difference in the fecal shedding between the non-vaccinated controls (Group 1) and the vaccinated steers (Groups 2 and 3). There was a highly statistical difference in the amount of E. coli O157:H7 being shed between the steers in Group 2 as compared to the non-vaccinated/challenged controls. Averaged across the study period, steers in Group 2 shed less E. coli per gram of feces as compared to the non-vaccinated steers of Group 1, with a degree of significance of P=0.02
There was no statistical difference in the fecal shedding between the non-vaccinated controls as compared to the shedding incidence of steers in Group 3 given the vaccine prepared in aluminum hydroxide (
Metal regulated proteins were prepared from S. enterica serovar Enteritidis using the methods described in Example 1. The bacterial isolate used in this experimental study originated from a natural field outbreak in a commercial chicken layer flock. Identity of the isolate was confirmed by the Minnesota Poultry Testing Laboratory located in Willmar, Minn. and designated as MS010531. The composition prepared from this isolate (S. enterica serovar Enteritidis) contained the proteins described in Table 3. Two stock vaccines were prepared that represented standard adjuvant formulations used in the poultry industry; a water-in-oil emulsion and an aqueous aluminum hydroxide formulation. The water-in-oil formulation was prepared by suspending the protein suspension in physiological saline (0.85%) containing 0.1% formalin. The protein concentration was standardized to contain 100 ug of protein per bird dose. Briefly, the aqueous protein suspension 250 ml was emulsified in a water-in-mineral oil adjuvant containing 50% Drakeol 6 mineral oil (Univar USA, St. Paul Minn.), 44.5% aqueous protein suspension, 2.56% Tween 85 (Ruger Chemical Co, Irvington, N.J.) and 3.0% Span 85 (Ruger Chemical Co, Irvington, N.J.). The mixture was emulsified using an Ultra-Turrax T-50 homogenzing vessel (IKA, Cincinnati, Ohio). The water-in-oil emulsion was stored at 4° C.
The aqueous aluminum hydroxide formulation was prepared by suspending the S. Enteritidis antigen in 0.02M phosphate buffered saline pH 7.2 to a final volume of 250 ml containing 25% vol/vol aluminum hydroxide (Rehydragel-HPA, Reheis, N.J.) to give a final protein concentration of 200 ug protein/ml.
Example 21 Chicken Vaccination and Challenge StudyEvaluation of the efficacy of the S. enterica serovar Enteritidis vaccines was carried out against a live virulent challenge in Specific Pathogen Free Chickens (SPF). Three hundred and fifty (N=350) 1-day old SPF chicks were obtained from Charles River Spafas Inc (Roanoke, Ill.). Chicks were randomly assigned to three treatment groups, designated A, B, and C, with 116 birds in each group. Birds in Group A received a 0.1 ml dose, delivered subcutaneously, of the aluminum hydroxide adjuvant vaccine at day one, followed by a 0.5 cc booster at 10 weeks of age (day 70). Birds in Group B received a 0.5 cc dose, delivered subcutaneously, of the oil emulsified vaccine at 6 weeks of age (Day 42), followed by a 0.5 cc booster vaccination at 10 weeks of age (Day 70). Group C served as non-vaccinated controls.
Example 22 Intravenous Challenge with S. enteritidis Serovar EnteritidisTo enhance the isolation rate of the S. enterica serovar Enteritidis challenge organism from challenged birds the isolate was made nalidixic acid resistant as described in example 8 with the following modification. The S. enterica serovar Enteritidis culture was plated on Brilliant Green Agar (BG) plates rather then Eosin Methylene Blue (EMB). The nalidixic acid resistant S. enterica serovar Enteritidis isolate as prepared by the method described above was stored at −90° C. until used for challenge. Briefly, the isolate from a frozen stock was streaked onto a blood agar plate and incubated at 37° C. for 18 hours. A single colony was subcultured into 100 ml Tryptic Soy Broth (Difco) containing 25 μg/ml 2,2′ dipyridyl. The culture was incubated at 37° C. for 12 hours while rotating at 200 rpm, at which point 10 ml was sub-cultured into 500 ml pre-warmed Tryptic Soy Broth containing 25 μg/ml 2,2′ dipyridyl. The culture was incubated at 37° C. for 6 hours while rotating at 200 rpm at which point it was centrifuged at 10,000×g for 10 minutes at 4° C. to pellet the bacteria. The bacterial pellet was washed twice by centrifugation in physiological saline at 4° C. The final pellet was resuspended and aliquated into two 200 ml samples in physiological saline. Each sample was adjusted to give a low and high challenge dose, i.e. low dose was adjusted to 3.45×107 CFU/ml while the high dose was adjusted to give 3.45×109 CFU/ml.
Example 23 ChallengeAt 12 weeks of age (day 84), all groups (A, B, and C) were separated into two sub-groups based on the challenge dose given, i.e. Group A was designated as A1 and A2 while birds in Groups B and C were designated as B1, B2, C1 and C2 respectively. All birds in groups A1, B1, and C1 (60 birds/group) were intravenously challenged using the low dose of S. enterica serovar Enteritidis. Each bird was given 1 ml containing 3.45×107 CFU by intravenous injection (refer to table 26). The outcome parameters used to evaluate vaccine efficacy in these groups was based on the differences in the quantitative clearance of the challenged organism from internal organs (spleen and ovaries) and difference in fecal shedding as examined by culturing the cecal junction. Birds in Groups A2, B2, and C2 (40 birds/group) were intravenously challenged with the high dose of S. enterica serovar Enteritidis (3.45×109 CFU/ml) to evaluate the difference in mortality between vaccinated and non-vaccinated treatment groups. Mortality was recorded daily for 7 days (table 26).
To enumerate differences in systemic clearance of the challenge microbe from internal organs and intestinal colonization between vaccinates and non-vaccinates challenged with the low dose, ten birds/group were euthanized by CO2 at 12, 24 and 48 hours after challenge and the spleen, left ovary and cecal junction were aseptically removed from each bird. Each sample was individually weighted and adjusted to give a 1:10 dilution (wt/vol) in physiological saline. Each sample was macerated and serially diluted ten fold. Each diluted sample was plated in duplicate on BG agar plates containing 150 ug nalidixic acid. The number of bacteria was enumerated for each sample and the log10 CFU was averaged for each treatment group at each time period.
Birds in Groups A2, B2 and C2 (40 birds/group) were intravenously challenged with the high dose of S. enterica serovar Enteritidis (3.45×109 CFU/ml) to evaluate the difference in mortality between vaccinated and non-vaccinated treatment groups (table 27). Mortality was recorded at 12 hour intervals for a period of seven 7 days. There was a significant difference in the observed mortality between birds given the aluminum hydroxide (A2) versus the oil-emulsified adjuvanted vaccine (B2) (Table 27). Total 7 day mortality in the aluminum hydroxide (A2) group was 45% compared to 23% in the oil-emulsified groups (B2) and 95% in the non-vaccinated controls of group C2 (
The results of this study demonstrate that a vaccine including proteins isolated from S. enterica serovar Enteritidis grown under iron-limiting conditions is protective against subsequent challenge by the pathogen in layer chickens. Birds immunized with the vaccine prepared in two commonly used adjuvants showed a significant reduction in the number of colony forming units of the challenge organism (S. enterica serovar Enteritidis) from internal organs (spleen and ovaries) following intravenous challenge compared to the non-vaccinated controls. In addition, vaccination also reduced the fecal shedding or colonization of S. enterica serovar Enteritidis after challenge as compared to the non-vaccinated controls. Both vaccination regiments used in this study resulted in good protection against an intravenous challenge in chickens. In addition, there was minimal adverse reaction at the site of injection, which is a major advantage of the compositions described herein when compared to commercially available bacterins.
Example 24 Characterization of Metal Regulated Proteins of an S. enterica Serovar Newport IsolateThe proteins of the composition prepared as described in Example 1 from the S. enterica serovar Newport strain were characterized using matrix assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight spectrometry (MALDI-TOF MS). A portion of the composition was resolved using a sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel. After the proteins of a composition had been resolved, the gel stained with either coomasie brilliant blue or silver to visualize the proteins. This method was also used to characterize compositions obtained from S. enterica serovar Enteritidis strain MS010531, S. enterica serovar Typhimurium strain MS010427, and S. enterica serovar IRP SDC Serial.
Materials and MethodsExcision and washing. The gel was washed for 10 minutes with water twice. Each protein band of interest was excised by cutting as close to the protein band as possible to reduce the amount of gel present in the sample. Fourteen gel fragments were prepared, and included polypeptides having the following approximate molecular weights (in kilodaltons): 82 and 79 (excised together in a single gel slice), 74, 65, 56, 55, 45, 38 and 38 (excised together in a single gel slice), 36, 22, 18, and 12.
Each gel slice was cut into 1×1 mm cubes and placed in 1.5 ml tube. The gel pieces were washed with water for 15 minutes. All the solvent volumes used in the wash steps were approximately equal to twice the volume of the gel slice. The gel slice was next washed with water/acetonitrile (1:1) for 15 minutes. When the proteins had been stained with silver, the water/acetonitrile mixture was removed, the gel pieces dried in a SpeedVac (ThermoSavant, Holbrook, N.Y.) and then reduced and alkylated as described below. When the gel pieces were not silver-stained, the water/acetonitrile mixture was removed, and acetonitrile was added to cover until the gel pieces turned a sticky white, at which time the acetonitrile was removed. The gel pieces were rehydrated in 100 mM NH4HCO3, and after 5 minutes, a volume of acetonitrile equal to twice the volume of the gel pieces was added. This was incubated for 15 minutes, the liquid removed, and the gel pieces dried in a SpeedVac.
Reduction & alkylation. The dried gel pieces were rehydrated in 10 mM DTT and 100 mM NH4HCO3, and incubated for 45 minutes at 56° C. After allowing the tubes to cool to room temperature, the liquid was removed and the same volume of a mixture of 55 mM iodoacetamide and 100 mM NH4HCO3 was immediately added. This was incubated for 30 minutes at room temperature in the dark. The liquid was removed, acetonitrile was added to cover until the gel pieces turned a sticky white, at which time the acetonitrile was removed. The gel pieces were rehydrated in 100 mM NH4HCO3, and after 5 minutes, a volume of acetonitrile equal to twice the volume of the gel pieces was added. This was incubated for 15 minutes, the liquid removed, and the gel pieces dried in a Speed vac. If the gel was stained with coomasie blue, and residual coomassie still remained, the wash with 100 mM NH4HCO3/acetonitrile was repeated.
In-gel digestion. Gel pieces were completely dried down in a Speed Vac. The pieces were rehydrated in digestion buffer (50 mM NH4HCO3, 5 mM CaCl2, 12.5 nanograms per microliter (ng/μl) trypsin) at 4° C. Enough buffer was added to cover the gel pieces, and more was added as needed. The gel pieces were incubated on ice for 45 minutes, and the supernatant removed and replaced with 5-2 μl of same buffer without trypsin. This was incubated at 37° C. overnight in an air incubator.
Extraction of peptides. A sufficient volume of 25 mM NH4HCO3 was added to cover gel pieces, and incubated for 15 minutes (typically in a bath sonicator). The same volume of acetonitrile was added and incubated for 15 minutes (in a bath sonicator if possible), and the supernatant was recovered. The extraction was repeated twice, using 5% formic acid instead of NH4HCO3. A sufficient volume of 5% formic acid was added to cover gel pieces, and incubated for 15 minutes (typically in a bath sonicator). The same volume of acetonitrile was added and incubated for 15 minutes (typically in a bath sonicator), and the supernatant was recovered. The extracts were pooled, and 10 mM DTT was added to a final concentration of 1 mM DTT. The sample was dried in a SpeedVac to a final volume of approximately 5 μl.
Desalting of peptides. The samples were desalted using a ZIPTIP pipette tips (C18, Millipore, Billerica, Mass.) as suggested by the manufacturer. Briefly, a sample was reconstituted in reconstitution solution (5:95 acetonitrile:H2O, 0.1%-0.5% trifluoroacetic acid), centrifuged, and the pH checked to verify that it was less than 3. A ZIPTIP was hydrated by aspirating 10 μl of solution 1 (50:50 acetonitrile:H2O, 0.1% trifluoroacetic acid) and discarding the aspirated aliquots. This was followed by aspirating 10 μl of solution 2 (0.1% trifluoroacetic acid in deionized H2O) and discarding the aspirated aliquots. The sample was loaded into the tip by aspirating 10 μl of the sample slowly into the tip, expelling it into the sample tube, and repeating this 5 to 6 times. Ten microliters of solution 2 was aspirated into the tip, the solution discarded by expelling, and this process was repeated 5-7 times to wash. The peptides were eluted by aspirating 2.5 μl of ice cold solution 3 (60:40, acetonitrile:H2O, 0.1% trofluoroacetic acid), expelling, and then re-aspirating the same aliquot in and out of the tip 3 times. After the solution has been expelled from the tip, the tube is capped and stored on ice.
Mass spectrometric peptide mapping. The peptides were suspended in 10 μl to 30 μl of 5% formic acid, and analyzed by MALDI-TOF MS (Bruker Daltonics Inc., Billerica, Mass.). The mass spectrum of the peptide fragments was determined as suggested by the manufacturer. Briefly, a sample containing the peptides resulting from a tryptic digest were mixed with matrix cyano-4-hydroxycinnamic acid, transferred to a target, and allowed to dry. The dried sample was placed in the mass spectrometer, irradiated, and the time of flight of each ion detected and used to determine a peptide mass fingerprint for each protein present in the composition. Known polypeptides were used to standardize the machine.
Data analysis. The experimentally observed masses for the peptides in each mass spectrum were compared to the expected masses of proteins using the Peptide Mass Fingerprint search method of the Mascot search engine (Matrix Science Ltd., London, UK, and www.matrixscience.com, see Perkins et al., Electrophoresis 20, 3551-3567 (1999)). The search parameters included: database, NCBInr; taxonomy, bacteria (eubacteria); type of search, peptide mass fingerprint; enzyme, trypsin; fixed modifications, carbamidomethyl (C) or none; variable modifications, oxidation (M), carbamidomethyl (C), the combination, or none; mass values, monoisotopic; protein mass, unrestricted; peptide mass tolerance, between ±100 ppm and ±300 ppm or 450 ppm, or ±1 Da; peptide charge state, Mr; max missed cleavages, 0 or 1; number of queries, 25.
ResultsThe result of this search was a mass fingerprint for each protein present in the composition (Table 28-31).
The proteins of the composition prepared as described in Example 1 from the E. coli strain BEcO157(stx-) were characterized using MALDI-TOF MS as described in Example 24. Twelve gel fragments were prepared, and included polypeptides having the following approximate molecular weights (in kilodaltons): 90, 86, 83, 79, a doublet at 66, 56, 38, 37, and 29. These methods were also used for the characterization of proteins of the E. coli strains MS040330, MS040324, and MS040827.
ResultsThe result of this search was a mass fingerprint for each protein present in the composition (Table 32-35).
The proteins derived from E. coli and Salmonella grown under iron-limiting conditions were identified by MALDI-TOF MS. These analyses resulted in protein sequences that represent the best protein match for each peptide mass fingerprint (see Tables 10-17). The public availability of genomic sequence data allows for a database search for these proteins in other organisms. Thus, nine of the proteins (ChuA, Imp, TolC, R4, LamB, BtuB, IutA, FepA, and FecA) identified from the E. coli strains were used in BLAST searches to determine which other pathogens may also express these proteins. Eight of the ten selected proteins were very similar to proteins from Shigella spp., with 98 to 99% identity at the amino acid level (
The complete disclosure of all patents, patent applications, publications, and electronically available material (including, for instance, nucleotide sequence submissions in, e.g., GenBank and RefSeq, and amino acid sequence submissions in, e.g., SwissProt, PIR, PRF, PDB, and translations from annotated coding regions in GenBank and RefSeq) cited herein are incorporated by reference. The foregoing detailed description and examples have been given for clarity of understanding only. No unnecessary limitations are to be understood therefrom. The invention is not limited to the exact details shown and described, for variations obvious to one skilled in the art will be included within the invention defined by the claims.
All headings are for the convenience of the reader and should not be used to limit the meaning of the text that follows the heading, unless so specified.
Claims
1. A composition comprising:
- a first isolated polypeptide having a molecular weight of about 82 kDa as measured following electrophoresis on a sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS)-polyacrylamide gel, wherein the first isolated polypeptide has a mass fingerprint similar to a mass fingerprint of a polypeptide of about 82 kDa obtained from S. enterica serovar Newport strain MS020508 after growth in low metal conditions;
- a second isolated polypeptide having a molecular weight of about 80 kDa as measured following electrophoresis on an SDS-polyacrylamide gel, wherein the second isolated polypeptide has a mass fingerprint similar to a mass fingerprint of a polypeptide of about 80 kDa obtained from S. enterica serovar Newport strain MS020508 after growth in low metal conditions; and
- a third isolated polypeptide having a molecular weight of about 74 kDa as measured following electrophoresis on an SDS-polyacrylamide gel, wherein the third isolated polypeptide has a mass fingerprint similar to a mass fingerprint of a polypeptide of about 74 kDa obtained from S. enterica serovar Newport strain MS020508 after growth in low metal conditions; and
- a fourth isolated polypeptide having a molecular weight of about 65 kDa as measured following electrophoresis on an SDS-polyacrylamide gel, wherein the fourth isolated polypeptide has a mass fingerprint similar to a mass fingerprint of a polypeptide of about 65 kDa obtained from S. enterica serovar Newport strain MS020508 after growth in low metal conditions;
2-38. (canceled)
39. A composition comprising a polypeptide comprising the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID No 1315.
40. The composition of claim 39 further comprising the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO:1318.
41. The composition of claim 39 further comprising amino acids 3-16 of SEQ ID NO:1328.
42. The composition of claim 39 further comprising amino acids 13-22 of SEQ ID NO:1325.
43. The composition of claim 40 further comprising amino acids 3-16 of SEQ ID NO:1328.
44. The composition of claim 40 further comprising amino acids 13-22 of SEQ ID NO:1325.
45. The composition of claim 44 further comprising amino acids 3-16 of SEQ ID NO:1328.
46. The composition of claim 41 further comprising amino acids 13-22 of SEQ ID NO:1325.
47. The composition of claim 39 wherein the polypeptide is covalently bound to a carrier polypeptide.
48. A composition comprising the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO:1318.
49. The composition of claim 48 further comprising amino acids 3-16 of SEQ ID NO:1328.
50. The composition of claim 49 further comprising amino acids 13-22 of SEQ ID NO:1325.
51. The composition of claim 48 further comprising amino acids 13-22 of SEQ ID NO:1325.
52. The composition of claim 48 wherein the polypeptide is covalently bound to a carrier polypeptide.
53. A composition comprising the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO:766.
54. The composition of claim 53 further comprising amino acids 1-8 of SEQ ID NO:769.
55. The composition of claim 53 wherein the polypeptide is covalently bound to a carrier polypeptide.
56. A composition comprising the amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO:776 and amino acids 1-13 of SEQ ID NO:793.
57. The composition of claim 56 wherein the polypeptide is covalently bound to a carrier polypeptide.
Type: Application
Filed: Jan 31, 2011
Publication Date: Jan 5, 2012
Applicant: Epitopix, LLC (Willmar, MN)
Inventors: Daryll A. Emery (New London, MN), Darren E. Straub (New London, MN), Laura Wonderling (Minneapolis, MN)
Application Number: 13/018,326
International Classification: A61K 39/112 (20060101); A61P 37/04 (20060101); C07K 19/00 (20060101); A61P 31/04 (20060101); C07K 7/08 (20060101); C07K 14/255 (20060101);
