Prostaglandin E2 (PGE2) is an important lipid mediator in inflammatory and immune responses during acute and chronic infections. Upon stimulation by various proinflammatory stimuli such as lipopolysaccharide (LPS), interleukin (IL)-1β, and tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α, PGE2 synthesis is upregulated by the expression of cyclooxygenases. Biologically active PGE2 is then able to signal through four primary receptors to elicit a response. PGE2 is a critical molecule that regulates the activation, maturation, migration, and cytokine secretion of several immune cells, particularly those involved in innate immunity such as macrophages, neutrophils, natural killer cells, and dendritic cells. Both Gram-negative and Gram-positive bacteria can induce PGE2 synthesis to regulate immune responses during bacterial pathogenesis. This review will focus on PGE2 in innate immunity and how bacterial pathogens influence PGE2 production during enteric and pulmonary infections. The conserved ability of many bacterial pathogens to promote PGE2 responses during infection suggests a common signaling mechanism to deter protective pro-inflammatory immune responses. Inhibition of PGE2 production and signaling during infection may represent a therapeutic alternative to treat bacterial infections. Further study of the immunosuppressive effects of PGE2 on innate immunity will lead to a better understanding of potential therapeutic targets within the PGE2 pathway.

Discovery and development of novel adjuvants that can improve existing or next generation vaccine platforms have received considerable interest in recent years. In particular, adjuvants that can elicit both humoral and cellular immune responses would be particularly advantageous because the majority of licensed vaccines are formulated with aluminum hydroxide (alum) which predominantly promotes antibodies. We previously demonstrated that bacterial-derived outer membrane vesicles (OMV) possess inherent adjuvanticity and drive antigen-specific antibody and cellular immune responses to OMV components. Here, we investigated the ability of OMVs to stimulate innate and adaptive immunity and to function as a stand-alone adjuvant. We show that OMVs are more potent than heat-inactivated and live-attenuated bacteria in driving dendritic cell activation in vitro and in vivo. Mice immunized with OMVs admixed with heterologous peptides generated peptide-specific CD4 and CD8 T cells responses. Notably, OMV adjuvant induced much greater antibody and B cell responses to co-delivered ovalbumin compared to the responses elicited by the adjuvants alum and CpG DNA. Additionally, pre-existing antibodies raised against the OMVs did not impair OMV adjuvanticity upon repeat immunization. These results indicate that vaccines adjuvanted with OMVs elicit robust cellular and humoral immune responses, supporting further development of OMV adjuvant for use in next-generation vaccines.

The environmental Gram-negative encapsulated bacillusBurkholderia pseudomalleiis the causative agent of melioidosis, a disease associated with high morbidity and mortality rates in areas of Southeast Asia and northern Australia in which the disease is endemic.B. pseudomalleiis also classified as a tier I select agent due to the high level of lethality of the bacterium and its innate resistance to antibiotics, as well as the lack of an effective vaccine. Gram-negative bacteria, includingB. pseudomallei, secrete outer membrane vesicles (OMVs) which are enriched with multiple protein, lipid, and polysaccharide antigens. Previously, we demonstrated that immunization with multivalentB. pseudomallei-derived OMVs protects highly susceptible BALB/c mice against an otherwise lethal aerosol challenge. In this work, we evaluated the protective efficacy of OMV immunization against intraperitoneal challenge with a heterologous strain because systemic infection with phenotypically diverse environmentalB. pseudomalleistrains poses another hazard and a challenge to vaccine development. We demonstrated thatB. pseudomalleiOMVs derived from strain 1026b afforded significant protection against septicemic infection withB. pseudomalleistrain K96243. OMV immunization induced robust OMV-, lipopolysaccharide-, and capsular polysaccharide-specific serum IgG (IgG1, IgG2a, and IgG3) and IgM antibody responses. OMV-immune serum promoted bacterial killingin vitro, and passive transfer ofB. pseudomalleiOMV immune sera protected naive mice against a subsequent challenge. These results indicate that OMV immunization provides antibody-mediated protection against acute, rapidly lethal sepsis in mice.B. pseudomallei-derived OMVs may represent an efficacious multivalent vaccine strategy against melioidosis.

Background: Lyme neuroborreliosis (LNB) may present as meningitis, cranial neuropathy, acute radiculoneuropathy or, rarely, as encephalomyelitis. We hypothesized that glia, upon exposure toBorrelia burgdorferi, the Lyme disease agent, produce inflammatory mediators that promote the acute cellular infiltration of early LNB. This inflammatory context could potentiate glial and neuronal apoptosis.Methods: We inoculated liveB. burgdorferiinto the cisterna magna of rhesus macaques and examined the inflammatory changes induced in the central nervous system (CNS), and dorsal root nerves and ganglia (DRG).Results: ELISA of the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) showed elevated IL-6, IL-8, CCL2, and CXCL13 as early as one week post-inoculation, accompanied by primarily lymphocytic and monocytic pleocytosis. In contrast, onset of the acquired immune response, evidenced by anti-B. burgdorferiC6 serum antibodies, was first detectable after 3 weeks post-inoculation. CSF cell pellets and CNS tissues were culture-positive forB. burgdorferi. Histopathology revealed signs of acute LNB: severe multifocal leptomeningitis, radiculitis, and DRG inflammatory lesions. Immunofluorescence staining and confocal microscopy detectedB. burgdorferiantigen in the CNS and DRG. IL-6 was observed in astrocytes and neurons in the spinal cord, and in neurons in the DRG of infected animals. CCL2 and CXCL13 were found in microglia as well as in endothelial cells, macrophages and T cells. Importantly, the DRG of infected animals showed significant satellite cell and neuronal apoptosis.Conclusion: Our results support the notion that innate responses of glia toB. burgdorferiinitiate/mediate the inflammation seen in acute LNB, and show that neuronal apoptosis occurs in this context.

Burkholderia pseudomallei is the etiological agent of melioidosis, a disease endemic in parts of Southeast Asia and Northern Australia. Currently there is no licensed vaccine against infection with this biological threat agent. In this study, we employed an immunoproteomic approach and identified bacterial Elongation factor-Tu (EF-Tu) as a potential vaccine antigen. EF-Tu is membrane-associated, secreted in outer membrane vesicles (OMVs), and immunogenic during Burkholderia infection in the murine model of melioidosis. Active immunization with EF-Tu induced antigen-specific antibody and cell-mediated immune responses in mice. Mucosal immunization with EF-Tu also reduced lung bacterial loads in mice challenged with aerosolized B. thailandensis. Our data support the utility of EF-Tu as a novel vaccine immunogen against bacterial infection.