Vaccine assembly from surface proteins of Staphylococcus aureus

Department of Microbiology, University of Chicago, 920 East 58th Street, Chicago, IL 60637

Edited by Emil C. Gotschlich, The Rockefeller University, New York, NY, and approved September 25, 2006 (received for review August 9, 2006)

Abstract

Staphylococcus aureus is the most common cause of hospital-acquired infection. Because of the emergence of antibiotic-resistant strains, these infections represent a serious public health threat. To develop a broadly protective vaccine, we tested cell wall-anchored surface proteins of S. aureus as antigens in a murine model of abscess formation. Immunization with four antigens (IsdA, IsdB, SdrD, and SdrE) generated significant protective immunity that correlated with the induction of opsonophagocytic antibodies. When assembled into a combined vaccine, the four surface proteins afforded high levels of protection against invasive disease or lethal challenge with human clinical S. aureus isolates.

Footnotes

*To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: oschnee{at}bsd.uchicago.edu
Author contributions: Y.K.S.-J. and O.S. designed research; Y.K.S.-J. and T.B. performed research; Y.K.S.-J. contributed new reagents/analytic tools; Y.K.S.-J., T.B., and O.S. analyzed data; and Y.K.S.-J. and O.S. wrote the paper.
The authors declare no conflict of interest.
This article is a PNAS direct submission.
Abbreviation:

PMN,

polymorphonuclear leukocyte.