2014-020 – Vaccine Development Platform Using E. coli/Heat-Stable Toxoid as the Adjuvant Delivery-System

Researchers at Kansas State University have created a novel structure-based multiepitope fusion antigen (MEFA) vaccine platform to allow for the development of enteric and respiratory disease vaccine candidates, including porcine post-weaning diarrhea (PWD) vaccines. Enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli (ETEC) bacteria are the primary cause of PWD. Currently there are no effective vaccines against PWD. The PWD MEFA is cloned in a plasmid which is introduced into a non-pathogenic E. coli strain that binds at the animal and human intestinal epithelial cells and induces mucosal immunity. The live E. coli strain will proliferate in the small intestine constantly delivering the MEFA to receptors of the intestinal epithelial cells to induce specific host mucosal immune responses. Bret Ford bretford@ksu.edu 785-532-3924