SBIR-STTR Award

Mycoplasma pneumonia of swine is a globally prevalent, chronic disease of low mortality but high morbidity and is economically damaging due to it effect on feed efficiency. Control of the disease is hampered by the lack of effective and practical vaccines for prophylactic immunization, and by the lack of sensitive diagnostic tools for the specific detection of infected animals. Recently, a major antigenic and immunogenic surface component of the causative agent, Mycoplasma hyopneumoniae, has been identified and the corresponding gene has been cloned and shown to encode immunogenic regions of this surface protein. It is proposed to (i) identify specific immunogenic regions of the protein recognized during disease by analyzing portions of the protein expressed as recombinant products, (ii) to test the feasibility of overproducing recombinant proteins representing selected portions of this surface protein, and (iii) to assess the efficacy of these isolated products as antigenic targets for the specific detection of disease and as products capable of inducing an appropriate immune response directed to the surface of the mycoplasma.Applications:Production of a product with the above demonstrated features may provide a key reagent for accurate diagnosis of infection and disease, and may represent an economically realistic vaccine for the active prophylactic protection of swine

Mycoplasma pneumonia of swine is a globally prevalent, chronic disease caused by infection with the prokaryote MVCODIaSma hvoDneumoni le. High morbidity of the disease causes annual losses of hundreds of millions of dollars in the U.S., due to reduced feed efficiency. Control of the disease is hampered by the lack of sensitive and reliable diagnostic tools for the specific detection of infected animals. Moreover, first-generation vaccines have recently been marketed which raises the need for a uniform diagnostic test to monitor effectiveness of vaccination. Recently, a major immunogenic membrane protein of _. hvoDneumoniae was identified and the corresponding 8ene cloned. Phase I research resulted in a molecularly engineered recombinant protein that (i) contained immunogenic regions of this surface protein, (ii) was overproduced in abundance with solubility properties amendable to manipulations for imr lunoassays; (iii) displayed surface-exposed regions of the protein recognized by convalescent swine antibodies; and (iv) provided an ideal antigenic tarBet for the specific detection of experimentally-induced disease. Phase II objectives include development of the existing and further-engineered recombinant proteins into a sensitive, simple and rapid immunodiagnostic assay, and rigorous comparison of assay prototypes with detection systems that are currently in use, but subject to variability in their specificity and utility.Applications:Development of a product with the above-demonstrated features will provide a key reagent and detection system for accurate diagnosis of infection and disease. This will be critically important as a uniform, reliable and reproducible assay for use in monitoring Di hvoDneumoniae infection throughout the pork-producing industry, and as a critical assay for commercial enterprises or government agencies assessing the efficacy of emerging vaccine products.