Assembly of B. pseudomallei proteins to virus-like particles as a vaccine platform against melioidosis

About This Grant

PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT There is a gap in the development of effective therapeutic approaches targeting under-studied pathogens that can cause human disease, such as Burkholderia pseudomallei (Bpm), the causative agent of melioidosis. The impact of Bpm on public health has escalated because areas considered non-endemic, including now the continental USA, have tested positive, with a corresponding increase in human cases and fatalities. In addition to classifying the pathogen as a biological select agent, the increased number of diabetic and immunosuppressed patients, two growing populations worldwide, justifies the importance of developing a vaccine intervention as a public health measure. Therefore, we argue that the development of a safe and effective vaccine would protect at-risk populations in endemic areas or those individuals susceptible to acquiring the pathogen naturally or as part of a man-made biological threat. Our long-term goal is to develop new strategies in the development of vaccines that can fully protect against Bpm isolates, while elucidating its protective immune responses, information that will be incorporated in the development of other vaccines against different pathogenic Burkholderia species. Our approach uses proven protective Bpm antigens coupled to virus-like particles (VLPs) as vaccines while evaluating effectiveness using clinically relevant mice models of melioidosis. The central hypothesis is that proven protective antigens coupled with VLPs will induce robust immune responses eliciting protective immunity against melioidosis disease. Together, the outcomes of our application will prove that our novel VLP-Bpm-antigen vaccines will induce strong protective immune responses against disease.