A Vaccine Candidate Case Study: Understanding Protein D Antibody Suppression by Omp26

Department

Research

Document Type

Conference Proceeding

Publication Title

The FASEB Journal

Conference Name

Experimental Biology 2021 Meeting

Conference Date

2021-05-01

Abstract

Protein D is a leading vaccine candidate for nontypeable Haemophilus influenzae (NTHi), a Gram-negative bacterium causing both lower and upper respiratory illnesses, such as acute otitis media (AOM), also known as an ear infection. We recently discovered that when Protein D is mixed with outer membrane protein 26 (OMP26), another leading vaccine candidate for NTHi, mice fail to produce antibodies to Protein D. Toward understanding the mechanism of antibody suppression, we performed co-immunoprecipitation and protein-protein interaction studies, as well as in vivo mouse experiments. Preliminary results suggest a direct interaction between Protein D and OMP26. We propose that OMP26 interacts with Protein D and either prevents its interaction with host immune cells or alters its conformation and/or epitopes. Further biochemical and biophysical structure studies are proposed to determine how and why Protein D antibody suppression occurs to inform the creation of a multivalent protein-based vaccine (PBV) for NTHi.

DOI

10.1096/fasebj.2021.35.S1.00326

Volume

35

Issue

S1

Publication Date

5-14-2021

Comments

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