Fragment C is a non-toxic 50 kDa fragment of tetanus toxin which is a candidate subunit vaccine against tetanus. The AT-rich Clostridium tetani DNA encoding fragment C could not be expressed in Saccharomyces cerevisiae due to the presence of several fortuitous polyadenylation sites which gave rise to truncated mRNAs. The polyadenylation sites were eliminated by chemically synthesising the DNA with increased GC-content (from 29% to 47%). Synthesis of the entire gene (1400 base pairs) was necessary to generate full-length transcripts and for protein production in yeast. Using a GAL1 promoter vector, fragment C was expressed to 2-3% of soluble cell protein. Fragment C could also be secreted using the alpha-factor leader peptide as a secretion signal. The protein was present at 5-10 mg/l in the culture medium in two forms: a high molecular mass hyper-glycosylated protein (75-200 kDa) and a core-glycosylated protein (65 kDa). Intracellular fragment C was as effective in vaccinating mice against tetanus authentic fragment C. The glycosylated material was inactive, though it was rendered fully active by de-glycosylation.
Epitopes defined by monoclonal antibodies (mAb) specific for the Bordetella pertussis outer membrane protein P.69 (pertactin) were mapped using a series of amino- and carboxy-terminal deletion mutants expressed in Escherichia coli. mAb were found to bind predominantly to a region of pertactin spanning a (Pro-Gln-Pro)5 repeat motif and one mAb was found to bind to another region spanning a (Gly-Gly-Xaa-Xaa-Pro)5 repeat motif. To localize further the mAb-binding sites, a panel of synthetic peptides, a series of 94 overlapping hexameric peptides, and a P.69 30-amino acid fusion to a hepatitis B core protein (HBcAg-69), were synthesized. This combined approach has identified the binding site for the mAb BBO5: Pro-Gly-Pro-Gln-Pro-Pro; mAb BBO7, E4A8 and E4D7: Ala-Pro-Gln-Pro-Pro-Ala-Gly-Arg; and mAb BPE3: Thr-Leu-Trp-Tyr-Ala-Glu-Ser-Asn-Ala-Leu-Ser-Lys-Arg. We have used a non-lethal murine respiratory model of B. pertussis infection to investigate the ability of a peptide containing the epitope of the mAb BBO5 to elicit protective immunity. Immunization of mice with the HBcAg-69 protein prevented growth of B. pertussis in the lungs compared to mice receiving HBcAg alone, and protection correlated with high titers of anti-P.69 antibodies.
Hepatitis B core protein (HBcAg) is a potent antigen that gives both a T-cell-dependent and a T-cell-independent antibody response. It has been shown that a foreign epitope can be fused to the amino terminus of HBcAg without affecting particle integrity, and that the resulting chimaeric cores retain the immunogenicity of the foreign epitope. Here we describe the efficient expression in yeast of two different chimaeric cores, carrying epitopes of Foot and Mouth Disease Virus (FMDV) or human chorionic gonadotrophin (hCG), which are candidates for FMD and contraceptive vaccines, respectively. These cores could not be produced in E. coli in soluble form but were expressed to high levels in yeast. We constructed a yeast expression vector that allows rapid production of different chimaeric cores by cloning in cassettes encoding foreign epitopes. Both FMDV and hCG-cores were shown to present the epitopes at the surface of the particles. The FMDV-cores produced in yeast were efficient inducers of neutralising antibodies in guinea-pigs after one low dose.
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