Defining B. Anthracis Protective Antigen Antigenic Domains
Abstract
The US Army faces the threat of biological warfare with Bacillus anthracis spores. Although there is a vaccine available (AVA vaccine) this formulation is poorly immunogenic, has questionable efficacy in some hosts, and is associated with significant side effects. The most important antigen in this vaccine is a component of anthrax toxin known as protective antigen (PA). However, this protein can also elicit potentially deleterious antibodies. This research program seeks to dissect the PA molecule to identify protein segments that are both immunogenic and elicit useful antibodies. Hence our goal is to define regions in the PA molecule that are both immunogenic and elicit only "good" antibodies. To do so we have developed a peptide ELISA incorporating overlapping peptides representing the entire molecule and used this assay to identify peptides reactive with protective monoclonal antibodies. Hence, we have defined the first linear peptide protective epitopes in PA. One of these peptides has been assembled into a vaccine formulation and was found to be immunogenic. We are hopeful that the identification of peptides that can elicit protective antibodies could lead to a new approach for designing a more effective vaccine for protection against anthrax.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Dec 01, 2008
- Accession Number
- ADA501674
Entities
People
- Arturo Casadevall