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Updated: Nov 21, 2025

Staphylococcus aureus Growth using Human Hemoglobin as an Iron Source
Published on: February 7, 2013
Epitope-specific immunity against Staphylococcus aureus coproporphyrinogen III oxidase
Alexander Klimka1,2, Sonja Mertins1,2, Anne Kristin Nicolai1,2
1Institute for Medical Microbiology, Immunology and Hygiene, University Hospital Cologne, Cologne, Germany.
Abstract:
Staphylococcus aureus represents a serious infectious threat to global public health and a vaccine against S. aureus represents an unmet medical need. We here characterise two S. aureus vaccine candidates, coproporphyrinogen III oxidase (CgoX) and triose phosphate isomerase (TPI), which fulfil essential housekeeping functions in heme synthesis and glycolysis, respectively. Immunisation with rCgoX and rTPI elicited protective immunity against S. aureus bacteremia. Two monoclonal antibodies (mAb), CgoX-D3 and TPI-H8, raised against CgoX and TPI, efficiently provided protection against S. aureus infection. MAb-CgoX-D3 recognised a linear epitope spanning 12 amino acids (aa), whereas TPI-H8 recognised a larger discontinuous epitope. The CgoX-D3 epitope conjugated to BSA elicited a strong, protective immune response against S. aureus infection. The CgoX-D3 epitope is highly conserved in clinical S. aureus isolates, indicating its potential wide usability against S. aureus infection. These data suggest that immunofocusing through epitope-based immunisation constitutes a strategy for the development of a S. aureus vaccine with greater efficacy and better safety profile.
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