Antibodies Reactive to Commensal Streptococcus mitis Show Cross-Reactivity With Virulent Streptococcus pneumoniae Serotypes.

ABSTRACT: Current vaccines against Streptococcus pneumoniae, a bacterial species that afflicts people by causing a wide spectrum of diseases, do not protect against all pneumococcal serotypes. Thus, alternative vaccines to fight pneumococcal infections that target common proteins are under investigation. One promising strategy is to take advantage of immune cross-reactivity between commensal and pathogenic microbes for cross-protection. In this study, we examined the antibody-mediated cross-reactivity between S. pneumoniae and Streptococcus mitis, a commensal species closely related to S. pneumoniae. Western blot analysis showed that rabbit antisera raised against S. mitis reacted with multiple proteins of virulent S. pneumoniae strains (6B, TIGR4, and D39).

SUBMITTER: Shekhar S 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5911667 | biostudies-literature | 2018

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature