Safety and vaccine efficacy of an attenuated Vibrio vulnificus strain with deletions in major cytotoxin genes.

Vibrio vulnificus is a human pathogen causing a rapidly progressing fatal septicemia. We have previously reported that a V. vulnificus large toxin RtxA1 causes programmed necrotic cell death through calcium-mediated mitochondrial dysfunction. Here we developed a live attenuated vaccine strain (CMM781) having deletions in three genes encoding major virulence factors: RTX cytotoxin (rtxA1), hemolysin/cytolysin (vvhA) and metalloprotease (vvpE) of a clinical isolate strain CMCP6. The CMM781 strain showed significant attenuation in cytotoxicity and mouse lethality. The safety of CMM781 was also confirmed by measuring the transepithelial electric resistance of Caco-2 cell monolayers. Intragastric immunization of mice with the live attenuated V. vulnificus strain resulted in induction of systemic and mucosal antibodies specific to the pathogen. Moreover, the vaccinated mice were protected from challenges with high doses of the virulent strain through various injection routes. These results suggest that CMM781 appears to be a safe and effective vaccine candidate that would provide significant protection against V. vulnificus infection. © FEMS 2015. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.