Β-glucan conjugate provides protection

Access through your institution Buy or subscribe Fungal infections such as aspergillosis and candidiasis are a serious threat to immunocompromised individuals and have high mortality rates,

even when patients are treated with antifungal drugs, thereby highlighting the pressing need for an effective vaccine. Because β-glucans, a polysaccharide component of fungal cell walls, are

essential for fungal viability, they are not expected to mutate readily. So, to develop an immunogen that is likely to induce a β-glucan-specific immune response, Torosantucci _et al_.

linked laminarin, a well-characterized but weakly immunogenic β-glucan from the brown alga _Laminaria digitata_, to diphtheria toxoid CRM197, a highly immunogenic protein carrier that is a

component of some current human vaccines. Treatment of mice with this conjugate (Lam–CRM) before lethal systemic challenge with _C. albicans_ was protective, in terms of both median survival

time and overall mortality. Protection was associated with the presence of β-glucan-specific antibodies, and when transferred to naive animals, these antibodies markedly reduced the fungal

burden in the kidneys of recipients that were subsequently challenged with _C. albicans_. Similarly, prophylactic treatment of rats with Lam–CRM protected them from disease in a rat model of

vaginal candidiasis, and vaginal fluid from immunized rats transferred protection to non-immunized animals in a β-glucan-specific-antibody-dependent manner. Importantly, initial studies

also showed that Lam–CRM protects mice against a lethal systemic challenge with another major human fungal pathogen, _A. fumigatus_. The β-glucan-specific antibodies were shown to bind the

hyphae and germ tubes of _C. albicans_ and the hyphal threads of _A. fumigatus_ and to inhibit fungal growth, providing one potential mechanism by which these antibodies can protect against

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Torosantucci, A. et al. A novel glyco-conjugate vaccine against fungal pathogens. _J. Exp. Med._ 202, 597–606 (2005) Article  CAS  Google Scholar  Download references Authors * Karen Honey

View author publications You can also search for this author inPubMed Google Scholar RIGHTS AND PERMISSIONS Reprints and permissions ABOUT THIS ARTICLE CITE THIS ARTICLE Honey, K. β-Glucan

conjugate provides protection. _Nat Rev Immunol_ 5, 746 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1038/nri1716 Download citation * Published: 20 September 2005 * Issue Date: 01 October 2005 * DOI:

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