Vaccine adjuvant

Abstract

The invention features fusion agents such as fusion proteins that are useful for the treatment of and prevention from diseases that are susceptible to the effects of cellular (Th1 type) immune responses. Also encompassed by the invention are nucleic acids encoding the fusion proteins of the invention, vectors containing the nucleic acids, and cells containing the vectors. The invention includes methods of making and using the fusion agents of the invention.

What is claimed is:  
     
         1 . A DNA encoding a fusion protein, the fusion protein comprising a first domain and a second domain, wherein 
 (a) the first domain comprises an immune enhancing molecule: and    (b) the second domain comprises an immunogenic molecule, wherein the immunogenic molecule is a tumor antigen, an autoantigen, a molecule produced by a fungus, a molecule produced by a mycoplasma, a molecule produced by a yeast, a polypeptide encoded by a virus, or a molecule produced by a bacterium, wherein the bacterium is selected from the group consisting of  Salmonella enteriditis, Listeria monocytogenes, Mycobacteria leprae, Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli, Streptococcus pneumoniae, Borrelia burgdorferi, Actinobacillus pleuropneumoniae, Helicobacter pylori, Neisseria meningitidis, Yersinia eneterocolitica, Bordetella pertussis , and  Porphyromonas gingivalis.      
     
     
         2 . A vector comprising the DNA of  claim 1 .  
     
     
         3 . The vector of  claim 2 , further comprising a transcriptional regulatory element (TRE) operably linked to the DNA.  
     
     
         4 . A cell comprising the vector of  claim 2 .  
     
     
         5 . A cell comprising the vector of  claim 3 .  
     
     
         6 . A method of making a fusion protein, the method comprising: 
 (a) culturing the cell of  claim 4;  and    (b) extracting the fusion protein from the culture.    
     
     
         7 . A DNA comprising a nucleotide sequence encoding: (a) a  Mycoplasma hyopneumoniae  P71 protein; or (b) a functional fragment of the P71 protein, wherein codons encoding tryptophan in the protein or the functional fragment are not TGA codons.