Los Angeles Biomedical Research Institute at Harbor-ucla Medical Center

Bradley J Spellberg

John E Edwards, Jr

Ashraf S Ibrahim

Yue Fu

Scott G Filler

Michael R Yeaman

Donald Christopher Sheppard

Donald C Sheppard

The invention provides a vaccine including an isolated Als protein family member having cell adhesion activity, or an immunogenic fragment thereof, with an adjuvant in a pharmaceutically acceptable medium. The invention also provides a method of treating or preventing hematogenously disseminated or mucocutaneous candidiasis. The method includes administering an immunogenic amount of a vaccine an isolated Als protein family member having cell adhesion activity, or an immunogenic fragment thereof, in a pharmaceutically acceptable medium. A method of treating or preventing disseminated candidiasis also is provided that includes administering an effective amount of an isolated Als protein family member having cell adhesion activity, or an functional fragment thereof, to inhibit the binding or invasion ofto a host cell or tissue. The Als protein family member can be derived from astrain selected from the group consisting ofandand the Als protein family member includes Als1p, Als3p, Als5p, Als6p, Als7p or Als9p. Also provided is a method of treating or preventinginfections. The method includes administering an immunogenic amount of a vaccine an isolated Als protein family member having cell adhesion activity, or an immunogenic fragment thereof, in a pharmaceutically acceptable medium.

Pharmaceutical compositions and methods to vaccinate against disseminated candidiasis and other infectious agents

Abloodstream infections cause significant morbidity and mortality in hospitalized patients. Filament formation and adherence to host cells are critical virulence factors of. Multiple filamentation regulatory pathways have been discovered, however the downstream effectors of these regulatory pathways remain unknown. The cell surface proteins in the ALS group are downstream effectors of the filamentation regulatory pathway. Particularly, Als1p mediates adherence to endothelial cells in vitro and is required for virulence. The blocking of adherence by the organism is described resulting from the use of a composition and method disclosed herein. Specifically, a pharmaceutical composition comprised of a gene, gene product, or specific antibody to the ALS gene family is administered as a vaccine to generate an immune response capable of blocking adherence of the organism.

Pharmaceutical compositions and methods to vaccinate against candidiasis

Abloodstream infections cause significant morbidity and mortality in hospitalized patients. Filament formation and adherence to host cells are critical virulence factors of. Multiple filamentation regulatory pathways have been discovered, however the downstream effectors of these regulatory pathways remain unknown. The cell surface protein, Als1p, is a downstream effector of the filamentation regulatory pathway and is regulated by Efg1p. Als1p mediates adherence to endothelial cells in vitro and is required for virulence. The blocking of adherence by the organism is described resulting from the use of a composition and method disclosed herein. Specifically, a pharmaceutical composition comprised of a gene product from the ALS1 gene family is administered as a vaccine to generate an immune response capable of blocking adherence of the organism.

Pharmaceutical compositions and methods to vaccinate against disseminated candidiasis

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Ranchos Palos Verdes, CA, United States of America

Bradley J Spellberg