Characterization of Potential Staphylococcus aureus Vaccine Candidates
Faculty Mentor Information
Juliette K. Tinker
Abstract
Staphylococcus aureus is a gram positive bacterium that is one of the primary culprits of mastitis in dairy cows. Mastitis is inflammation of the mammary gland, typically caused by bacteria such as S. aureus. Antibiotic treatments have proven to be ineffective and costly; thus a vaccine is a great alternative solution to the problem. Our lab has already developed a multivalent mucosal vaccine consisting of S. aureus antigens IsdA and ClfA chimeric proteins. Despite already developing a vaccine, a search for other potential S. aureus vaccine candidates is highly crucial for future more effective vaccines. Our lab has identified seven other novel candidates as they are all highly conserved surface proteins found in S. aureus. All of these proteins were cloned as histidine tagged proteins and purified via affinity chromatography. Extracellular matrix binding assays were performed on one of these proteins, termed fibronectin-like binding adhesin (FlbA). Lastly, ELISA assays were performed with bovine samples using two S. aureus antigens EsxA and IsdC.
Characterization of Potential Staphylococcus aureus Vaccine Candidates
Staphylococcus aureus is a gram positive bacterium that is one of the primary culprits of mastitis in dairy cows. Mastitis is inflammation of the mammary gland, typically caused by bacteria such as S. aureus. Antibiotic treatments have proven to be ineffective and costly; thus a vaccine is a great alternative solution to the problem. Our lab has already developed a multivalent mucosal vaccine consisting of S. aureus antigens IsdA and ClfA chimeric proteins. Despite already developing a vaccine, a search for other potential S. aureus vaccine candidates is highly crucial for future more effective vaccines. Our lab has identified seven other novel candidates as they are all highly conserved surface proteins found in S. aureus. All of these proteins were cloned as histidine tagged proteins and purified via affinity chromatography. Extracellular matrix binding assays were performed on one of these proteins, termed fibronectin-like binding adhesin (FlbA). Lastly, ELISA assays were performed with bovine samples using two S. aureus antigens EsxA and IsdC.