A Self-Assembling Whole-Cell Vaccine Antigen Presentation Platform

Diarrheal disease is the most common infection afflicting children worldwide. In resource-poor settings, these infections are correlated with cognitive delay, stunted growth, and premature death. With the development of efficacious, affordable, and easily administered vaccines, such infections could be prevented. While a major focus of research on biofilms has been their elimination, here we harness the bacterial biofilm to create a customizable platform for cost-effective, whole-cell mucosal vaccines that self-incorporate secreted protein antigens. We use this platform to develop a sublingually administered live-attenuated prototype vaccine based onVibrio cholerae . This serves not only as a proof of concept for a multivalent vaccine against common bacterial enteric pathogens but also as a paradigm for vaccines utilizing other bacterial biofilms to target mucosal infections.