Ureaplasma vaccine and antibodies

Abstract

The present invention encompasses methods and compositions for Ureaplasma infection prevention and/or treatment. In specific cases, the invention concerns vaccines for Ureaplasma , including DNA vaccines. In certain embodiments, the invention regards vaccines directed towards the multiple-banded antigen(s) of Ureaplasma.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . Isolated antibodies that specifically bind to and immunologically react with a conserved region of  Ureaplasma  multiple-banded antigen or the 5′ end of the multiple-banded antigen. 
     
     
         2 . A method of diagnosing  Ureaplasma  infection comprising the step of delivering the antibodies of  claim 1  to a sample, removing unbound antibodies and detecting the presence of specifically bound antibodies. 
     
     
         3 . A DNA vaccine comprising a polynucleotide encoding part or all of a  Ureaplasma  antigen. 
     
     
         4 . The vaccine of  claim 3 , wherein the antigen is urease, UU376 gene product, virulence gene product, or urea transporter, or wherein the polynucleotide comprises MBA N-terminal paralogs, 16S rRNA, the area upstream of the Urease A gene, the Urease A-Urease B spacer, the Urease B-Urease C spacer, or the 16S-23S rRNA intergenic spacer region. 
     
     
         5 . The vaccine of  claim 3 , further defined as a DNA vaccine comprising a polynucleotide encoding at least one multiple-banded  Ureaplasma  antigen. 
     
     
         6 . The vaccine of claim  30 , wherein the polynucleotide is further defined as follows:
 a) comprises a strong viral promoter;   b) comprises Mason-Pfizer monkey virus (MPV)-CTE with or without rev;   c) comprises Intron A or an intron from SV40 or Raucous sarcoma;   d) strong polyadenylation/transcriptional termination signal;   e) expresses the multiple binding proteins from more than one species, biovar, serotype or strain of  Ureaplasma;      f) comprises codons for pathogenic mRNA;   g) comprises an immune enhancer;   h) comprises a N-terminal ubiquitin signal;   i) comprises strings of minigenes (or MHC class I epitopes from) different pathogens or oligonucleotides;   j) comprises a TH epitope; or   k) a combination thereof.   
     
     
         7 . The vaccine of  claim 5 , further defined as comprising two  Ureaplasma  antigens. 
     
     
         8 . The vaccine of  claim 5 , further defined as comprising ANNATGG (SEQ ID NO:1) in front of the start codon. 
     
     
         9 . The vaccine of  claim 6 , wherein the immune enhancer comprises human granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor. 
     
     
         10 . The vaccine of  claim 6 , wherein the strings of MHC class I epitopes from different pathogens or oligonucleotides comprise a CpG motif. 
     
     
         11 . The vaccine of  claim 3 , wherein the vaccine comprises a polynucleotide encoding a peptide or polypeptide of the multiple-banded antigen. 
     
     
         12 . The vaccine of  claim 11 , wherein the vaccine comprises a polynucleotide encoding the 5′ end of the multiple-banded antigen. 
     
     
         13 . The vaccine of  claim 5 , wherein the vaccine comprises a peptide or polypeptide of the multiple-banded antigen.