Grant: Project Grant

Gram-negative bacteria are responsible for a wide range of community and hospital-acquired infections that result in significant morbidity and mortality. They are significant contributors to health care costs in Canada. Antibiotic-resistance is a major concern for many of these bacteria. Vaccines have met with significant success against certain pathogens. Several successful vaccines are based on complex sugar-containing polymers from the surfaces of bacteria, linked to a protein that enhances the immune response. However, there are limits to current technologies and the costs can be high. An attractive new approach to vaccine development involves using engineered bacteria as a factory to produce polymer-protein conjugate vaccines. However, certain features of the assembly system mean it is currently unsuitable for one important class of vaccine candidates. This proposal describes the development of a platform technology to overcome the limitation.