Abstract
The gram-positive bacterium Streptococcus pneumoniae is a leading cause of pneumonia, otitis media, septicemia, and meningitis in children and adults. Current prevention and treatment efforts are primarily pneumococcal conjugate vaccines that target the bacterial capsule polysaccharide, as well as antibiotics for pathogen clearance. While these methods have been enormously effective at disease prevention and treatment, there has been an emergence of non-vaccine serotypes, termed serotype replacement, and increasing antibiotic resistance among these serotypes. To combat S. pneumoniae, the immune system must deploy an arsenal of antimicrobial functions. However, S. pneumoniae has evolved a repertoire of evasion techniques and is able to modulate the host immune system. Antibodies are a key component of pneumococcal immunity, targeting both the capsule polysaccharide and protein antigens on the surface of the bacterium. These antibodies have been shown to play a variety of roles including increasing opsonophagocytic activity, enzymatic and toxin neutralization, reducing bacterial adherence, and altering bacterial gene expression. In this review, we describe targets of anti-pneumococcal antibodies and describe antibody functions and effectiveness against S. pneumoniae.
Highlights
Streptococcus pneumoniae is a gram-positive opportunistic bacterial pathogen that colonizes the upper respiratory tract, and is a leading cause of bacterial infections worldwide (Weiser et al, 2018), (Denny and Loda, 1986)
Bacterial colonization is a precursor to pneumococcal disease, which can manifest as otitis media, pneumonia, septicemia and meningitis
Pneumococcal Surface Protein A While vaccine-induced capsular polysaccharide (CPS)-specific antibodies can protect against colonization with vaccine-included serotypes, natural colonization leads the induction of both CPS-specific antibodies and anti-protein antibodies (Wilson et al, 2017)
Summary
Streptococcus pneumoniae is a gram-positive opportunistic bacterial pathogen that colonizes the upper respiratory tract, and is a leading cause of bacterial infections worldwide (Weiser et al, 2018), (Denny and Loda, 1986). Multiple colonization events in the lifetime of an individual result in serum antibody responses to the capsular polysaccharide (CPS) (Weinberger et al, 2008) and protein antigens (McCool et al, 2002; Zhang et al, 2006; Prevaes et al, 2012; Turner et al, 2013). Nonencapsulated strains of S. pneumoniae are able to colonize the nasopharyngeal tract and are not affected by current vaccines (Keller et al, 2016) These strains have unique surface proteins that allow for colonization and virulence in the absence of the CPS (Keller et al, 2016). We review anti-pneumococcal antibodies, including antibody targets and known mechanisms of action
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