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AssigneesUniversity of Iowa Research Foundation, The Regents of the University of California
InventorsMichael A. Apicella, Melvin G. Sunshine, Na-Gyong Lee, Bradford W. Gibson
Estimating the term…
A method is provided for identifying, isolating, and producing htrB mutants of gram-negative bacterial pathogens. The method comprises mutating the htrB gene of a gram-negative bacterial pathogen so that there is a lack of a functional HtrB protein, resulting in a mutant that lacks one or more secondary acyl chains and displays substantially reduced toxicity as compared to the wild type strain. Also, the present invention provides methods for using a vaccine formulation containing the htrB mutant, or the endotoxin isolated therefrom, to immunize an individual against infections caused by gram-negative bacterial pathogens by administering a prophylactically effective amount of the vaccine formulation.
A method of making a mutant endotoxin comprising:
A method of making a mutant non-typeable Haemophilus influenzae comprising mutating htrB gene within a wild-type non-typeable Haemophilus influenzae, wherein the htrB mutation produces a mutant non-typeable Haemophilus influenzae having a mutant endotoxin containing a decreased phosphoethanolamine content and an increased hexose content in the mutant endotoxin's inner core, and a pentaacylated or tetraacylated lipid A lacking one or two secondary acyl chains compared to the corresponding wild-type non-typeable Haemophilus influenzae hexaacylated endotoxin, and wherein the mutant endotoxin has substantially reduced toxicity as compared to the hexaacylated endotoxin of the wild-type non-typeable Haemophilus influenzae.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.