Immunization with full-length TprC variants induces a broad response to surface-exposed epitopes of the Treponema pallidum repeat protein family and is partially protective in the rabbit model of syphilis.

ABSTRACT: An effective vaccine against syphilis could aid current control measures to reduce the incidence of infection. Protective immunity from the syphilis agent, Treponema pallidum subsp. pallidum (T. pallidum), is associated with pathogen clearance by phagocytosis, supporting that immunization with an effective vaccine candidate should elicit opsonic antibodies to key epitopes at the host-pathogen interface. The T. pallidumrepeat (Tpr) proteins are putative β-barrel outer membrane porins with ten predicted extracellular loops. Here, we immunized three groups of eight rabbits with either a combination of three recombinant variants of the full-length TprC antigen, the TprD₂ protein, or the conserved NH₂-terminal region of TprK, with the latter antigen already known to induce

SUBMITTER: Giacani L 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12455497 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature