Protection against inhalation anthrax by immunization with Salmonella enterica serovar Typhi Ty21a stably producing protective antigen of Bacillus anthracis.

The national blueprint for biodefense concluded that the United States is underprepared for biological threats. The licensed anthrax vaccine absorbed vaccine, BioThrax, requires administration of at least 3-5 intramuscular doses. The anthrax vaccine absorbed vaccine consists of complex cell-free culture filtrates of a toxigenic Bacillus anthracis strain and causes tenderness at the injection site and significant adverse events. We integrated a codon-optimized, protective antigen gene of B. anthracis (plus extracellular secretion machinery), into the chromosome of the licensed, oral, live-attenuated typhoid fever vaccineTy21a to form Ty21a-PA-01 and demonstrated excellent expression of the gene encoding protective antigen. We produced the vaccine in a 10-L fermenter; foam-dried and vialed it, and characterized the dried product. The vaccine retained ~50% viability for 20 months at ambient temperature. Sera from animals immunized by the intraperitoneal route had high levels of anti-protective antigen antibodies by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay and anthrax lethal toxin-neutralizing activity. Immunized mice were fully protected against intranasal challenge with ~5 LD50 of B. anthracis Sterne spores, and 70% (7/10) of vaccinated rabbits were protected against aerosol challenge with 200 LD50 of B. anthracis Ames spores. There was a significant correlation between protection and antibody levels determined by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay and toxin-neutralizing activity. These data provide the foundation for achievement of our ultimate goal, which is to develop an oral anthrax vaccine that is stable at ambient temperatures and induces the rapid onset of durable, high-level protection after a 1-week immunization regimen.

Development of a Live Attenuated Bivalent Oral Vaccine Against Shigella sonnei Shigellosis and Typhoid Fever.

Shigella sonnei and Salmonella Typhi cause significant morbidity and mortality. We exploited the safety record of the oral, attenuated S. Typhi vaccine (Ty21a) by using it as a vector to develop a bivalent oral vaccine to protect against S. sonnei shigellosis and typhoid fever. We recombineered the S. sonnei form I O-antigen gene cluster into the Ty21a chromosome to create Ty21a-Ss, which stably expresses S. sonnei form I O antigen. To enhance survivability in the acid environment of the stomach, we created an acid-resistant strain, Ty21a-AR-Ss, by inserting Shigella glutaminase-glutamate decarboxylase systems coexpressed with S. sonnei form I O-antigen gene. Mice immunized intranasally with Ty21a-AR-Ss produced antibodies against S. sonnei and S. Typhi, and survived lethal intranasal S. sonnei challenge. This paves the way for proposed good manufacturing practices manufacture and clinical trials intended to test the clinical effectiveness of Ty21a-AR-Ss in protecting against S. sonnei shigellosis and typhoid fever, as compared with the current Ty21a vaccine.

Stable expression of Shigella sonnei form I O-polysaccharide genes recombineered into the chromosome of live Salmonella oral vaccine vector Ty21a.

Live, attenuated Salmonella enterica serovar Typhi strain Ty21a, a licensed oral typhoid fever vaccine, has also been employed for use as a vector to deliver protective antigens of Shigella and other pathogens. Importantly, lipopolysaccharide (LPS) alone has been shown to be a potent antigen for specific protection against shigellosis. We reported previously the plasmid cloning of heterologous LPS biosynthetic genes and the expression in Ty21a of either S. sonnei or of S. dysenteriae 1 LPS's. The resulting plasmids encoding Shigella LPS's were reasonably stable for >50 generations of growth in nonselective media, but still contained an antibiotic resistance marker that is objectionable to vaccine regulatory authorities. Deletion of this antibiotic-resistance marker inexplicably resulted in significant plasmid instability. Thus, we sought a method to insert the large ∼12kb S. sonnei LPS gene region into the chromosome, that would allow for subsequent removal of a selectable marker and would result in 100% genetic stability. Toward this objective, we optimized an existing recombination method to mediate the insertion of a ∼12kb region encoding the S. sonnei LPS genes into the Ty21a genome in a region that is nonfunctional due to mutation. The resulting strain Ty21a-Ss simultaneously expresses both homologous Ty21a and heterologous S. sonnei O-antigens. This chromosomal insert was shown to be 100% genetically stable in vitro and in vivo. Moreover, Ty21a-Ss elicited strong dual anti-LPS serum immune responses and 100% protection in mice against a virulent S. sonnei challenge. This new vaccine candidate, absolutely stable for vaccine manufacture, should provide combined protection against enteric fevers due to Salmonella serovar Typhi as shown previously (and some Paratyphi infections) and against shigellosis due to S. sonnei.

Core-linked LPS expression of Shigella dysenteriae serotype 1 O-antigen in live Salmonella Typhi vaccine vector Ty21a: preclinical evidence of immunogenicity and protection.

Shigella dysenteriae serotype 1 (S. dysenteriae 1) causes severe shigellosis that is typically associated with high mortality. Antibodies against Shigella serotype-specific O-polysaccharide (O-Ps) have been shown to be host protective. In this study, the rfb locus and the rfp gene with their cognate promoter regions were PCR-amplified from S. dysenteriae 1, cloned, and sequenced. Deletion analysis showed that eight rfb ORFs plus rfp are necessary for biosynthesis of this O-Ps. A tandemly-linked rfb-rfp gene cassette was cloned into low copy plasmid pGB2 to create pSd1. Avirulent Salmonella enterica serovar Typhi (S. Typhi) Ty21a harboring pSd1 synthesized S. Typhi 9, 12 LPS as well as typical core-linked S. dysenteriae 1 LPS. Animal immunization studies showed that Ty21a (pSd1) induces protective immunity against high stringency challenge with virulent S. dysenteriae 1 strain 1617. These data further demonstrate the utility of S. Typhi Ty21a as a live, bacterial vaccine delivery system for heterologous O-antigens, supporting the promise of a bifunctional oral vaccine for prevention of shigellosis and typhoid fever.