Development of a synthetic multipathogen vaccine

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Chronic periodontitis is a bacterial-associated inflammatory disease of the supporting tissues of the teeth, which results in the destruction of tooth support and ultimately leads to tooth loss. The disease is a major public health problem with a large economic burden. The bacterium Porphyromonas gingivalis has been identified as a major pathogen in the development of chronic periodontitis. We have identified and characterised a major virulence factor of P. gingivalis; a complex of proteins which is involved in binding and destruction of host tissue. We have shown that this protein complex when used as a vaccine protects against P. gingivalis induced disease in animal periodontitis models. We have identified the regions (peptides) of the protein complex that allow the bacteria to bind to host tissue and blood proteins and these and other complex-related peptides when used as vaccines reduced disease in animal models. Recently, a consortium involving T.denticola, T.forsythia and P.gingivalis has been closely associated with the development of periodontitis in humans. We have shown that a mixture of these bacteria have greater pathogenicity in an animal periodontitis model than any one bacterium individually at the same total dose. The aim of this project is to identify epitopes in T. denticola and T. forsythia and to combine them with those of P. gingivalis into a multipathogen vaccine using techniques we have patented. The efficacy of the multipathogen vaccine to produce an immume response which is effective against the three bacteria will be investigated. The significance of this work is that we will produce a fully synthetic vaccine that may have utility in the prevention of periodontitis and the platform technology developed may have utility for a range of diseases associated with multiple bacterial pathogens.