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The Bordetella type III secretion system: its application to vaccine development
Author(s) -
Abe Akio,
Nagamatsu Kanna,
Watanabe Mineo
Publication year - 2008
Publication title -
microbiology and immunology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.664
H-Index - 70
eISSN - 1348-0421
pISSN - 0385-5600
DOI - 10.1111/j.1348-0421.2008.00028.x
Subject(s) - bordetella pertussis , whooping cough , virulence , biology , vaccination , pertussis vaccine , secretion , virology , immunology , asymptomatic carrier , immunization , pertussis toxin , antigen , disease , microbiology and biotechnology , medicine , bacteria , genetics , g protein , biochemistry , receptor , gene
B. pertussis is a causative agent of whooping cough (pertussis) in humans. Despite wide‐scale vaccination in many countries, there is serious concern about pertussis as a re‐emerging disease. Re‐emergence of pertussis may be explained by several factors: the short duration of protection by the currently available acellular pertussis vaccine, an increase in asymptomatic adult carriers and expansion of strains with certain antigenic variations which are not covered by currently available vaccines. To develop safer and more efficacious vaccines which confer more prolonged protection, researchers are focusing on identification and characterization of new virulence factors. One candidate for protective antigens is the type III secretion system and its secreted proteins.