Cloning, expression and characterization of recombinant exotoxin A-flagellin fusion protein as a new vaccine candidate against pseudomonas aeruginosa infections

ABSTRACT

Background: infections due to Pseudomonas aeruginosa are among the leading causes of morbidity and mortality in patients who suffer from impaired immune responses and chronic diseases such as cystic fibrosis. At present, aggressive antibiotic therapy is the only choice for management of P. aeruginosa infections, but emergence of highly resistant strains necessitated the development of novel alternative therapeutics including an effective vaccine. Several P. aeruginosa antigens have been tested for vaccine development, including lipopolysaccharide alone, polysaccharides alginate, extracellular proteins, exotoxin A [exo A] and killed whole cell. However, none of them are currently available clinically