Project description:The primary mechanism by which pneumococcal capsular polysaccharide-based vaccines are believed to mediate protection is by induction of serotype-specific opsonic antibodies that facilitate bacterial killing by phagocytes (opsonophagocytosis). However, antibodies that are protective against experimental pneumococcal pneumonia in mice but do not promote opsonophagocytic killing in vitro have also been identified 1-3. Such non-opsonic antibodies are associated with bacterial clearance in vivo, but the mechanism by which this occurs is unknown. In this letter, we demonstrate that a protective, non-opsonic serotype 3 pneumococcal capsular polysaccharide-specific monoclonal antibody (MAb) enhances quorum sensing, which results in competence induction and fratricide of serotype 3 pneumococcus. Gene expression profile analysis revealed that the MAb together with the pneumococcal autoinducer, competence stimulating peptide 2 (CSP2), augments differential expression of competence (com) related bacteriocin-like peptide (blp) genes that are known to be involved in pneumococcal fratricide. Taken together, these findings reveal a previously unsuspected mechanism of antibody action, namely, enhancement of quorum sensing and bacterial fratricide. Given that this activity does not require phagocytes, antibodies that function accordingly may hold promise as adjuncts to current vaccines or as desired products of next generation pneumococcal vaccines.

2011-03-01 | GSE27258 | GEO

Using Dried Blood Spots for a Sero-Surveillance Study of Maternally Derived Antibody against Group B Streptococcus.

Project description: Not available

| S-EPMC9966576 | biostudies-literature