Immunogenic Compositions of Staphylococcus Epidermidis Polypeptide Antigens

Abstract

The present invention relates to immunogenic compositions, comprising polypeptides isolated from Staphylococcus epidermidis . The invention also relates to polynucleotides encoding Staphylococcus epidermidis polypeptides and their use in immunogenic compositions. In addition, the invention relates to methods of inducing an immune response in mammals against Staphylococcus epidermidis and Staphylococcus aureus using immunogenic compositions of the Staphylococcus epidermidis polypeptides and polynucleotides. The invention also relates to methods for detecting Staphylococcus epidermidis in a biological sample.

1 . An immunogenic composition comprising one or more isolated polypeptides comprising an amino acid sequence selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID NO: 1 through SEQ ID NO: 32, a biological equivalent thereof, or a fragment thereof, wherein at least one of the one or more isolated polypeptides is derived from  Staphylococcus epidermidis.    
     
     
         2 . The immunogenic composition of  claim 1 , wherein the one or more isolated polypeptides are immunoreactive with antibodies in the serum of rabbits infected with  Staphylococcus epidermidis.    
     
     
         3 . The immunogenic composition of  claim 1 , wherein the one or more isolated polypeptides binds to one or more rabbit serum proteins. 
     
     
         4 . The immunogenic composition of  claim 1 , further comprising a pharmaceutically acceptable carrier. 
     
     
         5 . The immunogenic composition of  claim 1 , further comprising one or more adjuvants. 
     
     
         6 . (canceled) 
     
     
         7 . The immunogenic composition of  claim 1 , wherein the one or more isolated polypeptides further comprises heterologous amino acids. 
     
     
         8 . The immunogenic composition of  claim 1 , wherein at least one of the one or more isolated polypeptides is a fusion polypeptide. 
     
     
         9 . The immunogenic composition of  claim 1 , wherein at least one of the one or more isolated polypeptides is a recombinant polypeptide. 
     
     
         10 . (canceled) 
     
     
         11 . The immunogenic composition of  claim 1 , wherein the one or more isolated polypeptides comprise a neutralizing epitope of  Staphylococcus epidermidis.    
     
     
         12 . The immunogenic composition of  claim 1 , wherein at least one of the one or more isolated polypeptides is a lipoprotein. 
     
     
         13 . The immunogenic composition of  claim 1 , said composition further comprising a  Staphylococcus epidermidis  polysaccharide antigen. 
     
     
         14 . The immunogenic composition of  claim 1 , said composition further comprising a  Staphylococcus aureus  polysaccharide or polypeptide antigen. 
     
     
         15 . The immunogenic composition of  claim 1 , wherein at least one of the one or more isolated polypeptides comprises a  Staphylococcus epidermidis  sequence selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID NO: 8, SEQ ID NO: 10, SEQ ID NO: 11, SEQ ID NO: 12, SEQ ID NO: 14, SEQ ID NO: 18, SEQ ID NO: 19, SEQ ID NO: 20, SEQ ID NO: 23, SEQ ID NO: 26, SEQ ID NO: 27, and SEQ ID NO: 30, a biological equivalent thereof, or a fragment thereof. 
     
     
         16 . The immunogenic composition of  claim 1 , wherein the one or more isolated polypeptides are encoded by one or more polynucleotides comprising a nucleotide sequence having at least about 95% homology to a nucleotide sequence selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID NO: 33 through SEQ ID NO: 64 or a degenerate variant thereof, or a fragment thereof. 
     
     
         17 . The immunogenic composition of  claim 16 , wherein the one or more polynucleotides are derived from  Staphylococcus epidermidis.    
     
     
         18 . The immunogenic composition of  claim 17 , wherein the polynucleotide sequence is selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID NO: 40, SEQ ID NO: 42, SEQ ID NO: 43, SEQ ID NO: 44, SEQ ID NO: 46, SEQ ID NO: 50, SEQ ID NO: 51, SEQ ID NO: 52, SEQ ID NO: 55, SEQ ID NO: 58, SEQ ID NO: 59, and SEQ ID NO: 62, or a degenerate variant thereof, or a fragment thereof. 
     
     
         19 . The immunogenic composition of  claim 17 , wherein the one or more polynucleotides further comprises heterologous nucleotides. 
     
     
         20 . An immunogenic composition comprising one or more isolated polynucleotides comprising a nucleotide sequence selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID NO: 33 through SEQ ID NO: 64, a degenerate variant thereof, or a fragment thereof and is comprised in an expression vector. 
     
     
         21 - 29 . (canceled) 
     
     
         30 . A method of inducing an immune response comprising administering to a mammal an immunogenic amount of the immunogenic composition of  claim 1 . 
     
     
         31 - 34 . (canceled) 
     
     
         35 . A method of inducing an immune response comprising administering to a mammal an immunogenic amount of the immunogenic composition of  claim 20 . 
     
     
         36 - 48 . (canceled)