Technology Information  Title An Avirulent Strain of Salmonella for Use as a Live Vaccine Manager Kelly Sexton Case Number 06150 Abstract NC State is currently seeking a licensee to commercialize a new vaccine technology for which a provisional patent application has been filed. Most Salmonella strains currently used as live vaccines are auxotrophs for certain nutrients. Researchers at North Carolina State University have developed a new strain of Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium for use as a live vaccine by deleting the fnr gene, which encodes the DNA binding protein FNR. This deletion affects the Salmonella pathogenicity island 1 (SP-1) and the virulence operon, srfAB. This FNR deletion strain is completely avirulent in oral and intraperitoneal challenge studies in mice. Furthermore, it is attenuated in its ability to survive within host macrophages. This novel Salmonella strain has the potential to be used to vaccinate humans as well as poultry and other farm animals to induce immunity against closely related Salmonella species. Importantly, this Salmonella strain can be engineered to express foreign antigens selected specifically for promoting immunity against other diseases. Advantages More stable than nutritional mutants currently used as live oral vaccines. This system can be used as a platform technology for the development of a variety of vaccines against other diseases. The mutated gene is a global regulator required for the activation of several genes essential for virulence. Inventor Bio Dr. Hosni M. Hassan is a Professor in the Department of Microbiology at NCSU. Dr. Hassan earned his Ph.D. in Microbiology with minors in Biochemistry and Food Microbiology at the University of California, Davis. His research focuses on free radical biology and the molecular regulation of the antioxidant enzymes in prokaryotes and unicellular eukaryotes and global regulation of virulence in Salmonella. Taxonomy NCSU Technology Categories/Animal Healthcare/Agriculture NCSU Technology Categories/Infectious/Diseases NCSU Technology Categories/Vaccine/Therapeutic Keywords Salmonella, Live Vaccine  Web Links  Name Open Link J Bacteriol March 2007 Publication Open Link Request Information If you are a registered user, please login before requesting information by clicking the Login button. If you have not registered, click the Login button for registration information.