Monoclonal antibodies against sporangia and spores of Marteilla sp. (Protozoa: Ascetospora)

6 pages, 4 figures.Digestive glands of mussels Mytilus edulis from Brittany, France, infected with Marteilia sp. (Ascetospora) were used to purify the parasite. A modification of a previously used punfication protocol increased purification efficiency, permitting sporangial primordia and sporangia of Marteilia sp. to be obtained. Mouse (Balb/c) monoclonal antibodies were generated against this parasite. From the fusion, 26 monoclonal antibodies against Marteilia sp. were obtained. Antibodies from 6 clones reacted only with Marteilia sp. cells and not with normal host tissues. Four of these antibodies (1/1-3, 3/1-1, 4/1-1 and 6/2-3) reacted with the sporangia wall and two with the spore cytoplasm (9/1-1 and 12/5-1), Antibodies cross-reacted with Marteilia refringens from Mytilus galloprovincialis obtained in the Ría de Vigo, Spain.J.A.F.R. acknowledges Xunta de Galicia, Spain, for his with research fellowship at the IIM-CSIC and Caixa Galicia for his research fellowship at IFREMER - La Tremblade.Peer reviewe

Pediatric Measles Vaccine Expressing a Dengue Antigen Induces Durable Serotype-specific Neutralizing Antibodies to Dengue Virus

Dengue disease is an increasing global health problem that threatens one-third of the world's population. Despite decades of efforts, no licensed vaccine against dengue is available. With the aim to develop an affordable vaccine that could be used in young populations living in tropical areas, we evaluated a new strategy based on the expression of a minimal dengue antigen by a vector derived from pediatric live-attenuated Schwarz measles vaccine (MV). As a proof-of-concept, we inserted into the MV vector a sequence encoding a minimal combined dengue antigen composed of the envelope domain III (EDIII) fused to the ectodomain of the membrane protein (ectoM) from DV serotype-1. Immunization of mice susceptible to MV resulted in a long-term production of DV1 serotype-specific neutralizing antibodies. The presence of ectoM was critical to the immunogenicity of inserted EDIII. The adjuvant capacity of ectoM correlated with its ability to promote the maturation of dendritic cells and the secretion of proinflammatory and antiviral cytokines and chemokines involved in adaptive immunity. The protective efficacy of this vaccine should be studied in non-human primates. A combined measles–dengue vaccine might provide a one-shot approach to immunize children against both diseases where they co-exist