Abstract: The present invention relates to a method of producing rough strains of a bacterium, such as Mycobacterium obuense, said method comprising exposing said bacterium to a sulfone and/or sulfonamide (such as 4,4?-Diaminodiphenyl sulfone or an analogue thereof). A rough strain of Mycobacterium obuense producible by said method and uses thereof. In particular, uses of a rough strain of Mycobacterium obuense deposited under the Budapest Treaty of NCTC with the accession number NCTC 13365.

Abstract: Recombinant Mycobacterium strains with improved vaccinal properties for use as vaccinating agents are provided. The parent strains of the recombinant Mycobacterium strains are selected for their potent immunogenicity. The Mycobacterium strains do not display antibiotic resistance, and do not exhibit horizontal transfer to gram-negative bacteria.

Abstract: The present invention relates to an immuno-therapeutic and prophylactic vaccine comprising monocytes or immature myeloid cells (IMCs) loaded with the ligand of natural killer T cell and an antigen for the prevention and treatment of infectious disease or cancer, more precisely, an immuno-therapeutic and prophylactic vaccine comprising monocytes or IMCs loaded with ?-galactosylceramide (?GalCer), a kind of glycolipid and a natural killer T cell ligand, and antigen. Monocytes or immature myeloid cells (IMCs) therein, which are easily obtainable, unlike dendritic cells, not only induce a significant level of cytotoxic T lymphocyte responses but also have a prophylactic and therapeutic effect on malignant tumor. Therefore, the immuno-therapeutic and prophylactic vaccine of the present invention can be effectively used as an immunotherapeutic agent.

Abstract: This invention relates to the use of a preparation of killed or non infectious Gram positive bacteria such as Gram positive facultative intracellular bacteria, for example mycobacteria, for the treatment of intestinal inflammatory syndromes such as Crohn's disease or ulcerative colitis.

Abstract: The disclosed technology provides an enriched antibody population, highly specific for an antigen of a surface polysaccharide, from a mycobacterium. In a related embodiment, the antibody is enriched by having been raised in an environment that maintains antigenically active antigen. These antibodies may be used in an immunoreactive environment for detecting the presence of a mycobacterial infection in a sample from a subject.

Abstract: The invention relates to a live recombinant Mycobacterium bovis-BCG strain comprising a nucleic acid capable of expression, the nucleic acid encoding at least one protein or polypeptide that exhibits alanine dehydrogenase activity, glutamine synthetase activity, or serine dehydratase activity.

Abstract: The present invention provides transcriptionally active Mtb polynucleotides, recombinant Mtb peptides and polypeptides, and immunogenic Mtb antigens. Immunogenic compositions are also provided that may be useful as recombinant, subunit and DNA vaccines. In addition, the invention provides diagnostic kits for Mtb.

Abstract: The present invention is directed to pharmaceutical compositions that contain a combination of apolipoprotein E and an antigenic lipid. The compositions may be administered to a subject for the purpose of inducing an immune response against the lipid and in immunization protocols.

Abstract: The present invention provides for a novel oil-in-water (O/W) emulsion, with increased stability in the presence of bacterial or viral suspensions, especially those concentrated and non-purified or weakly purified. The emulsion of the present invention can act as vehicle for the delivery of a pharmaceutical composition comprising at least one immunogen and, in particular, an immunogen selected from the group comprising an inactivated pathogen, an attenuated pathogen, a subunit, a recombinant expression vector, and a plasmid or combinations thereof.

Abstract: Bacterial delivery systems with improved transgene expression are provided. The recombinant bacterial delivery systems deliver transgenes of interest and suppressors of the eukaryotic Type I interferon response to eukaryotic cells. Suppression of the eukaryotic Type I interferon response allows improved expression of the encoded transgene.

Abstract: The invention of novel, effective vaccines against Mycoplasma bovis for use in cattle is described. These vaccines demonstrate no undesirable side effects and protect against M. bovis related disease, such as contagious mastitis, respiratory pneumonia, joint infections, keratoconjunctivitis and middle ear infections. The novel vaccines also lessen the effect of M. bovis infections on milk production, weight gain and animal health. Methods of diagnosing, characterizing and treating M. bovis infections as specific biotypes are also disclosed. Vaccine compositions made in accordance with the invention may be either of the attenuated or inactivated variety. Vaccines may also include antigens from other pathogens so as to provide a protective immunogenic response to diseases other than those caused by M. bovis.

Abstract: A process of detection of the causative agent of Johne's disease (Mycobacterium avium subsp. paratuberculosis) (MAP) by detecting shedding of surface protein of MAP. A preferred way is use of surface enhanced Raman Spectroscopy. The system of detecting MAP shedding of protein provides early detection and diagnosis, and therefore allows early treatment for Johne's disease in ruminant animals.

Abstract: Mycobacterium tuberculosis proteins and protein compositions that are components of a desaturase complex are provided. The Mycobacterium tuberculosis desaturase complex may include a desaturase and an oxidoreductase. The complex may include the rv3229c and rv3230c gene products of Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Vectors for expressing the desaturase and the oxidoreductase can be packaged together, including a label that indicates their use as a complex for analyzing desaturation of fatty acids. In addition, methods for screening target ligands specific for a desaturase complex are also provided.

Abstract: Disclosed herein are novel methods for screening for compounds useful in treating or preventing tuberculosis. In exemplary embodiments, screening methods are based on the implementation or manipulation of triacylglycerol hydrolase like polypeptides or polynucleotides encoding the same. The methods are useful in identifying agents active against TB infection.

Abstract: Purified antibodies that bind to M. tuberculosis ERP protein are disclosed. In one embodiment, a purified antibody, which binds specifically with a polypeptide comprising SEQ ID NO: 39 or SEQ ID NO: 41 is provided. In some embodiments the polypeptide has a theoretical molecular weight of about 28 kDa. In other embodiments the polypeptide has an observed molecular weight of about 36 kDa, as determined by denaturing polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE). The purified antibody may be a monoclonal or a polyclonal antibody. Further embodiments provide antibodies that does not bind specifically with M. leprae P28 protein. The antibodies of the invention have many uses including the identification of M. tuberculosis.

Abstract: The invention relates to a recombinant Mycobacterium bovis which expresses at least one Chlamydophila pneumoniae antigen.

Abstract: The invention concerns Mycobacterium strains whereof the erp gene is modified and a vaccine composition containing same. The modification of the erp gene decreases the virulence and the persistence of the Mycobacterium strains.

Abstract: The invention provides mycobacterium tuberculosis polypeptides and genes encoding them for use in diagnostic and prophylactic methodologies.

Abstract: MLVA methods for strain discrimination among Mycobacterium tuberculosum strains are disclosed. Nine VNTR loci have been identified from genomic sequences of Mycobacterium tuberculosum strains and primer pairs suitable for amplifying the VNTR by PCR are disclosed. Polymorphisms at these loci were used to resolve genotypes into distinct groups. This sub-typing scheme is useful for the epidemiological study of Mycobacterium tuberculosum and may be applied to the local detection of the pathological causative agent of tuberculosum.

Abstract: The present invention features homologous recombination methods and systems. The methods and systems promote highly efficient homologous recombination in cells (e.g., in prokaryotic cells). The methods and systems are useful, for example, in pharmaceutical drug development, vaccine development and cloning.

Abstract: Disclosed is a method for regulation of airway hyperresponsiveness by modulating the action of ?? T cells in a patient. Also disclosed are methods for identifying compounds that regulate airway hyperresponsiveness by modulating ?? T cell action.

Abstract: The invention provides polypeptides encoded by open reading frames present in the genome of Mycobacterium tuberculosis but absent from the genome of BCG and diagnostic and prophylactic methodologies using these polypeptides.

Abstract: Disclosed herein are novel methods for screening for compounds useful in treating or preventing tuberculosis. In exemplary embodiments, screening methods are based on the implementation or manipulation of triacylglycerol synthase like polypeptides or polynucleotides encoding the same. The methods are useful in identifying agents active against TB infection.

Abstract: The present invention provides a combined vaccine that includes hepatitis B vaccine (HeVac) and Bacille Calmette-Guerin (BCG) for intracutaneous injection and the method of preparation of such vaccine. The combined vaccine changes the now used liquid agent of the HeVac into a cryoprotectant, thus improving the heat stability of the HBsAg. Because of the cryoprotectant in the combined vaccine, the heat stability of the HBsAg is improved, and the efficacy of the vaccine is only slightly decreased after 30 days at 37° C., and the decrease is lower than with the liquid agent of the HeVac. The present invention changes the newborn's inoculation from two injections into one to simultaneously obtain prophylaxis of hepatitis B and tuberculosis.

Abstract: A method of assaying for peptide-specific T-cells comprises adding peptide to a fluid sample of fresh peripheral blood mononuclear cells, and detecting a cytokine such as interferon-? produced by T-cells that have been pre-sensitized to the peptide. The assay method is quick and cheap and is expected to be useful for the study of various disease states including Hepatitis B, Hepatitis C, tuberculosis, malaria, HIV and influenza.

Abstract: The present invention relates to a method of diagnosing tuberculosis in a subject, said method comprising steps of: detecting anti-Mycobacterium tuberculosis (M.tb.) isocitrate dehydrogenase (ICDs) antibody in the subject, and diagnosing tuberculosis in the subject.

Abstract: Method of diagnosing in an individual recent exposure to an agent which is a pathogen, vaccine or any other moiety which induces a cellular response, said method comprising determining in vitro whether the T cells of the individual recognise a protein from said agent having a length of at least 30 amino acids, to a greater extent than one or more peptide epitopes from the agent, a greater extent of recognition of the protein indicating that the individual has recently been exposed to the agent.

Abstract: The present invention features modified Mycobacterium tuberculosis strains which lack a functional lspA gene, and vaccine formulations comprising the same. In many embodiments, a modified Mycobacterium tuberculosis strain of the invention comprises deletion or inactivation of the lspA gene and/or one or more non-lspA genes that are involved in Mycobacterium tuberculosis inhibition of macrophage responses to IFN?. The present invention also features methods of using the modified Mycobacterium tuberculosis strains to treat or present Mycobacterium tuberculosis infection in mammals. In addition, the present invention features methods of using ?lspA strains to identify non-lspA genes or other cellular components that are involved in Mycobacterium tuberculosis proinflammatory stimulation of macrophages or inhibition of macrophage responses to IFN?.

Abstract: The invention relates to the use of an agent such as an antibody capable of reacting with PrP in the prevention of prion replication in a subject, in the treatment or prevention of prion infection, in the treatment or prevention of neuropathology associated with prion infection or in the preparation of a medicament for the treatment or prevention of prion disease. Furthermore, the invention relates to methods of treatment of prion disease, methods of inhibiting prion replication and antibodies for use in such methods.

Abstract: The present invention provides an assay for detection of M. bovis-infected animals. A tracer, comprising a peptide of M. bovis protein MPB70 conjugated to a fluorophore, is added to a serum sample from an animal to form a mixture. The fluorescence polarization of the mixture in then measured and compared to the fluorescence polarization of a control. The present invention further provides a tracer for use in fluorescence polarization assay to detect antibodies specific for M. bovis. The tracer comprises a peptide of M. bovis protein MPB70 conjugated to a fluorophore, such that the tracer is able to bind to antibodies specific for M. bovis to produce a detectable change in fluorescence polarization.

Abstract: The present invention includes cold-adapted, acid-fast bacterium for use as a vaccine and a vaccine vector. In preferred embodiments, the cold-adapted, acid-fast bacterium is a Mycobacteria, for example, Mycobacteria shottsii.

Abstract: Methods for improving binding of a proteinaceous substance to cell-wall material of a Gram-positive bacterium are disclosed. The proteinaceous substance includes an AcmA cell-wall binding domain, homolog or functional derivative thereof. The method includes treating the cell-wall material with a solution capable of removing a cell-wall component such as a protein, lipoteichoic acid or carbohydrate from the cell-wall material and contacting the proteinaceous substance with the cell-wall material.

Abstract: The present invention is directed to a method of selection of purified nucleotidic sequences or polynucleotides encoding proteins or part of proteins carrying at least an essential function for the survival or the virulence of mycobacterium species by a comparative genomic analysis of the sequence of the genome of M. tuberculosis aligned on the genome sequence of M. leprae and M. tuberculosis and M. leprae marker polypeptides of nucleotides encoding the polypeptides, and methods for using the nucleotides and the encoded polypeptides are disclosed.

Abstract: An oil-in-water emulsion that comprise a bacterial component as an active ingredient as well as essentially an oil, surfactant, and a stabilizer, and that can be used as an agent for immunotherapy, and the preparation therefor are provided.

Abstract: The present invention provides a pharmaceutical composition with an adjuvant based on an apathogenic virus, together with an antigen. The adjuvant has a natural or through genetical engineering no, reduced or altered expression of an endogenous interferon antagonist or endogenous immune suppressor.

Abstract: The invention relates to vaccines comprising recombinant vectors, such as recombinant adenoviruses. The vectors comprise heterologous nucleic acids encoding for at least two antigens from one or more tuberculosis-causing bacilli. The invention also relates to the use of specific protease recognition sites linking antigens through which the encoded antigens are separated upon cleavage. After cleavage, the antigens contribute to the immune response in a separate manner. The recombinant vectors may comprise a nucleic acid encoding the protease cleaving the linkers and separating the antigens. The invention furthermore relates to the use of genetic adjuvants encoded by the recombinant vectors, wherein such genetic adjuvants may also be cleaved through the presence of the cleavable linkers and the specific protease.

Abstract: Antibodies that bind to the M. tuberculosis Des protein are provided.

Abstract: Provided are mycobacteria comprising (a) a mutation that is not in a SecA2 gene that attenuates the virulence of the mycobacteria in a mammalian host, and (b) a mutation in a SecA2 gene that eliminates SecA2 activity. Also provided are mycobacteria that comprise a mutation in a SecA2 gene that eliminates SecA2 activity, where the mycobacteria are not Mycobacterium tuberculosis or Mycobacterium smegmatis. Additionally provided are methods of inducing an immune response in a mammal and methods of inducing an immune response to a pathogenic mycobacterium in a human using the above mycobacterial mutants.

Abstract: An immunotherapy useful for treating a cancer and/or treating and preventing a microbial infection is provided. A pharmaceutical composition which comprises a bacterial component as an effective ingredient is disclosed, which is used for immunotherapy in a patient suffering from a cancer or microbial infection, wherein the immunotherapy comprises eradicating the cancer cells or the microorganisms from the lymph nodes of the patient.

Abstract: Prion protein binding materials and methods for using the binding materials to detect or remove a prion protein from a sample, such as a biological fluid or an environmental sample. The binding materials are capable of binding to one or more forms of prion protein including cellular prion protein (PrPc), infectious prion protein (PrPsc), recombinant prion protein (PrPr), and proteinase resistant prion protein (PrPres). Prions from various species, including humans and hamsters, are bound by the binding materials.

Abstract: The invention provides in part methods of treating cancers of a specific organ or tissue by administering a composition that is antigenically specific for one or more microbes that are pathogenic in the specific organ or tissue in which the cancer is situated. The formulations of the invention thereby facilitate activation of a treatment response to a cancer in a particular tissue or organ. The compositions may for example include killed or attenuated microbial pathogens, and may be administered at sites distant from the cancer, for example the skin. In some embodiments, microbial species of endogenous flora that are known to cause infection in the relevant organ or tissue may be used in the formulation of the antigenic compositions. In alternative embodiments, exogenous microbial pathogens that are known to cause infection in the relevant organ or tissue may be used in the formulation of the antigenic compositions.

Abstract: A recombinant BCG vaccine being transformed with an expression vector that has a polynucleotide encoding a foreign antigenic protein, wherein the polynucleotide is a modified one in which the third position of each codon is substituted with G or C without a change of an amino acid. This recombinant BCG vaccine has an excellent expression rate of antigenic protein and, as a result, capable of inducing a sufficient immune response against target infectious disease, cancer, or the like at the same dose as that of the typical BCG vaccine.

Abstract: The present invention provides methods of identifying lethal, virulent and rapidly replicating viruses, organisms, and malignancies comprising comparing Replikin concentrations among different viruses, organisms, or malignancies. The present invention further provides isolated Replikin Peak Genes associated with increased lethality, virulence and rapid replication, for diagnostic, therapeutic and predictive purposes.

Abstract: A method of using selective binding properties of killed and live isolates of Mycobacterium avium subspecies paratuberculosis (Map) to gastrointestinal tract mucosa is described which permits: selecting as a killed Map test candidate for oral administration a strain of Map which will have greater organismal attachment; and selecting as a live Map test candidate for oral administration a live strain of Map whose virulence had been significantly reduced and which exhibits a diminished ability to bind to gastrointestinal mucosa The method also includes preservation of binding ability of Map isolates after inhibition of organism replication or virulence reduction.

Abstract: The present invention relates to compositions and fusion proteins containing at least two Mycobacterium sp. antigens, and nucleic acids encoding such compositions and fusion proteins. The compositions of the invention increase serological sensitivity of sera from individuals infected with tuberculosis, and methods for their use in the diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of tuberculosis infection.

Abstract: The invention provides a vaccine comprising secreted protein derived from Mycobacterium avium subsp paratuberculosis (M. ptb) substantially free of whole organisms of that species either dead or alive. The secreted protein may be obtained from a culture of M. ptb with the microorganisms being removed by centrifugation and subsequent filtration.

Abstract: The construction of a mutant in the phoP gene by means of homologous recombination from a clinically isolated Mycobacterium tuberculosis reduces the virulence thereof in mouse bone marrow macrophage. Moreover, the phoP mutant reduces the virulence thereof in the experimental mouse model. Said phoP mutant can persist without being eliminated both in the macrophage and in the mouse. Mice inoculated with the phoP mutant are protected against M. tuberculosis infection. The use of mutants of mycobacteria in which the phoP gene or the genes regulated by phoP have been inactivated are candidates for vaccines against human and animal tuberculosis as well as possible recombinant vaccines against other pathogens.

Abstract: The invention identifies a narrow subset of Mycobacterium latency associated antigens and or epitopes that are capable of eliciting an immune response in vivo and in vitro in a mammal. The invention provides methods and compositions for detection and immunization against latent Mycobacterium infections. These compositions comprise those Mycobacterial latency antigens that are actually capable of eliciting an immune response in vivo, in mammals experiencing a latent Mycobacterium infection. More preferably the compositions comprise those antigens that are preferentially recognized by latently infected individuals and which antigens are not, or to a much lesser extent, recognized in individuals having an active Mycobacterium infection or in individuals having Mycobacterium induced symptoms or diseases, such as in patients infected with M. tuberculosis suffering from tuberculosis disease (TB).

Abstract: The present invention is based on the identification and characterization of a number of novel M. tuberculosis derived proteins and protein fragments. The invention is directed to the polypeptides and immunologically active fragments thereof, the genes encoding them, immunological compositions such as diagnostic reagents containing the polypeptides.

Abstract: The invention relates to vaccine compositions composed of at least one Mycobacterium avium subspecies paratuberculosis (MAP) antigen, or attenuated or killed MAP for use in methods of immunizing a human against a MAP infection, preventing or treating a MAP infection, and preventing a human disease associated with a MAP infection.