Disclosed are methods and compositions related to the use cannabinoids as adjuvants for the accelerated induction and production of an antibody based immune response.

Provided are surprisingly effective methods for inactivating pathogens, and for producing highly immunogenic vaccine compositions containing an inactivated pathogen rendered noninfectious by exposure to a Fenton reagent, or by exposure to a Fenton reagent or a component thereof in combination with a methisazone reagent selected from the group consisting of methisazone, methisazone analogs, functional group(s)/substructure(s) of methisazone, and combinations thereof. The methods efficiently inactivate pathogens, while substantially retaining pathogen antigenicity and/or immunogenicity, and are suitable for inactivating pathogens, or for the preparation of vaccines for a wide variety of pathogens with genomes comprising RNA or DNA, including viruses and bacteria. Also provided are highly immunogenic inactivated vaccine compositions prepared by using any of the disclosed methods, and methods for eliciting an immune response in a subject by administering such vaccine compositions.

The invention relates to a multivalent Shigella/Enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli vaccine for use in prophylaxis and treatment of diarrheal disease. The Shigella-ETEC vaccine provides increased coverage of a broader range of ETEC and Shigella isolates than prior vaccines, and includes CS14 antigens and serotypes (S. flexneri 7a, or S. flexneri 1b).

The provided technology is in the field of conjugating native, non-detergent extracted, outer membrane vesicles (nOMV) to antigens to form nOMV-antigen conjugates, which are particularly useful for immunogenic compositions and immunisation; processes for the preparation and use of such conjugates is also provided.

Carrier proteins modified to incorporate one or more pilin glycotags and applications thereof for O-linked glycosylation are provided. In particular, a modified carrier protein comprising a carrier protein that comprises at least one GlycoTag, wherein the at least one GlycoTag is a Neisseria gonorrhoeae PglL GlycoTag (NgGlycoTag), Neisseria lactamica PglL GlycoTag (NlGlycoTag), or Neisseria shayeganii GlycoTag (NsGlycoTag), or combinations thereof is provided, together with nucleic acids and vectors encoding the modified carrier protein, host cells comprising these modofoed carrier proteins or nucleic acids encoding them, bioconjugates, methods of making bioconjugates and uses of the bioconjugates.

The invention is based on the discovery of the epitope in the Stx2 protein for the 11 E1O antibody. The invention features compositions containing non-full length Stx2 polypeptides that include the 11 E1O monoclonal antibody epitope. The invention also features methods of producing anti-Stx2 antibodies specific for the 11 E1O epitope of the Stx2 protein. Additionally, the invention features methods for treating a subject having, or at risk of developing, a Shiga toxin associated disease (e.g., hemolytic uremia syndrome and diseases associated with E. coli and S. dysenteriae infection) with a polypeptide that includes the 11 E1O epitope or with an anti-Stx2 antibody developed using the methods of the invention. Furthermore, the invention features the detection of Stx2 in a sample using the antibodies developed using the methods of the invention.

A live attenuated Shigella vaccine, which is based on a rough Shigella strain lacking LPS O-antigen which is non-invasive through a mutation of the invasion plasmid, specifically for use in the immunoprophylaxis of a subject to prevent infectious diseases, preferably enteral disease, and a Shigella strain, which is a S. flexneri 2a strain with a deletion of the rfb F, ipa B and/or ipa C genes, as well as a recombinant plasmid vector based on a mutated Shigella invasion plasmid comprising a nucleotide sequence encoding at least one heterologous antigen, wherein the plasmid is mutated in at least one of the ipa B and/or ipa C genes.

The inventive subject matter relates to a construct comprising antigens derived from multiple enterobacteria including Campylobacter jejuni capsule polysaccharide polymer, enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli recombinant polypeptide construct and lipopolysaccharide from Shigella spp. The subject invention also relates to a method of inducing an immune response utilizing the inventive composition.

The invention is directed to bioconjugate vaccines comprising N-glycosylated proteins. Further, the present invention is directed to a recombinant prokaryotic biosynthetic system comprising nucleic acids encoding an epimerase that synthesizes an oligo- or polysaccharide having N-acetylgalactosamine at the reducing terminus. The invention is further directed to N-glycosylated proteins containing an oligo- or polysaccharide having N-acetylgalactosamine at the reducing terminus and an expression system and methods for producing such N-glycosylated proteins.

A method of producing a monomer of a Shiga toxin B-subunit (STxB) protein or of a variant thereof by peptide chemical synthesis, as well as to a method of producing a pentamer of the STxB protein or of the variant thereof. The methods are particularly advantageous as they overcome major issues typically observed in peptide chemical synthesis, including solubility and purity issues.