Enterococcal Membrane Vesicles as Vaccine Candidates
<i>Enterococcus faecium</i> is a leading cause of nosocomial infections, particularly in immunocompromised patients. The rise of multidrug-resistant <i>E. faecium</i>, including Vancomycin-Resistant Enterococci (VRE), is a major concern. Vaccines are promising alternatives to...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2023-11-01
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| Series: | International Journal of Molecular Sciences |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/1422-0067/24/22/16051 |
| _version_ | 1797459031973953536 |
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| author | Theresa Maria Wagner Felipe Romero-Saavedra Diana Laverde Mona Johannessen Johannes Hübner Kristin Hegstad |
| author_facet | Theresa Maria Wagner Felipe Romero-Saavedra Diana Laverde Mona Johannessen Johannes Hübner Kristin Hegstad |
| author_sort | Theresa Maria Wagner |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | <i>Enterococcus faecium</i> is a leading cause of nosocomial infections, particularly in immunocompromised patients. The rise of multidrug-resistant <i>E. faecium</i>, including Vancomycin-Resistant Enterococci (VRE), is a major concern. Vaccines are promising alternatives to antibiotics, but there is currently no vaccine available against enterococci. In a previous study, we identified six protein vaccine candidates associated with extracellular membrane vesicles (MVs) produced by nosocomial <i>E. faecium</i>. In this study, we immunized rabbits with two different VRE-derived MV preparations and characterized the resulting immune sera. Both anti-MV sera exhibited high immunoreactivity towards the homologous strain, three additional VRE strains, and eight different unrelated <i>E. faecium</i> strains representing different sequence types (STs). Additionally, we demonstrated that the two anti-MV sera were able to mediate opsonophagocytic killing of not only the homologous strain but also three unrelated heterologous VRE strains. Altogether, our results indicate that <i>E. faecium</i> MVs, regardless of the purification method for obtaining them, are promising vaccine candidates against multidrug-resistant <i>E. faecium</i> and suggest that these naturally occurring MVs can be used as a multi-antigen platform to elicit protective immune responses against enterococcal infections. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-09T16:46:35Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-0b883ebfb1a146e69d30f6b70aa6069a |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1661-6596 1422-0067 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-09T16:46:35Z |
| publishDate | 2023-11-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | International Journal of Molecular Sciences |
| spelling | doaj.art-0b883ebfb1a146e69d30f6b70aa6069a2023-11-24T14:45:42ZengMDPI AGInternational Journal of Molecular Sciences1661-65961422-00672023-11-0124221605110.3390/ijms242216051Enterococcal Membrane Vesicles as Vaccine CandidatesTheresa Maria Wagner0Felipe Romero-Saavedra1Diana Laverde2Mona Johannessen3Johannes Hübner4Kristin Hegstad5Research Group for Host-Microbe Interactions, Department of Medical Biology, Faculty of Health Sciences, UiT The Arctic University of Norway, N-9037 Tromsø, NorwayDivision of Pediatric Infectious Diseases, Dr. von Hauner Children’s Hospital, Ludwig Maximilians University, 80337 Munich, GermanyDivision of Pediatric Infectious Diseases, Dr. von Hauner Children’s Hospital, Ludwig Maximilians University, 80337 Munich, GermanyResearch Group for Host-Microbe Interactions, Department of Medical Biology, Faculty of Health Sciences, UiT The Arctic University of Norway, N-9037 Tromsø, NorwayDivision of Pediatric Infectious Diseases, Dr. von Hauner Children’s Hospital, Ludwig Maximilians University, 80337 Munich, GermanyResearch Group for Host-Microbe Interactions, Department of Medical Biology, Faculty of Health Sciences, UiT The Arctic University of Norway, N-9037 Tromsø, Norway<i>Enterococcus faecium</i> is a leading cause of nosocomial infections, particularly in immunocompromised patients. The rise of multidrug-resistant <i>E. faecium</i>, including Vancomycin-Resistant Enterococci (VRE), is a major concern. Vaccines are promising alternatives to antibiotics, but there is currently no vaccine available against enterococci. In a previous study, we identified six protein vaccine candidates associated with extracellular membrane vesicles (MVs) produced by nosocomial <i>E. faecium</i>. In this study, we immunized rabbits with two different VRE-derived MV preparations and characterized the resulting immune sera. Both anti-MV sera exhibited high immunoreactivity towards the homologous strain, three additional VRE strains, and eight different unrelated <i>E. faecium</i> strains representing different sequence types (STs). Additionally, we demonstrated that the two anti-MV sera were able to mediate opsonophagocytic killing of not only the homologous strain but also three unrelated heterologous VRE strains. Altogether, our results indicate that <i>E. faecium</i> MVs, regardless of the purification method for obtaining them, are promising vaccine candidates against multidrug-resistant <i>E. faecium</i> and suggest that these naturally occurring MVs can be used as a multi-antigen platform to elicit protective immune responses against enterococcal infections.https://www.mdpi.com/1422-0067/24/22/16051<i>Enterococcus faecium</i>VREvaccinebacterial membrane vesiclesinfection control |
| spellingShingle | Theresa Maria Wagner Felipe Romero-Saavedra Diana Laverde Mona Johannessen Johannes Hübner Kristin Hegstad Enterococcal Membrane Vesicles as Vaccine Candidates International Journal of Molecular Sciences <i>Enterococcus faecium</i> VRE vaccine bacterial membrane vesicles infection control |
| title | Enterococcal Membrane Vesicles as Vaccine Candidates |
| title_full | Enterococcal Membrane Vesicles as Vaccine Candidates |
| title_fullStr | Enterococcal Membrane Vesicles as Vaccine Candidates |
| title_full_unstemmed | Enterococcal Membrane Vesicles as Vaccine Candidates |
| title_short | Enterococcal Membrane Vesicles as Vaccine Candidates |
| title_sort | enterococcal membrane vesicles as vaccine candidates |
| topic | <i>Enterococcus faecium</i> VRE vaccine bacterial membrane vesicles infection control |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/1422-0067/24/22/16051 |
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