<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?><xml><records><record><source-app name="Biblio" version="7.x">Drupal-Biblio</source-app><ref-type>17</ref-type><contributors><authors><author><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Stakenborg, Tim</style></author><author><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Dominique Vandekerchove</style></author><author><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Mariën, Jonas</style></author><author><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Laevens, Hans</style></author><author><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Hein Imberechts</style></author><author><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Johan Peeters</style></author></authors></contributors><titles><title><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Protection of rabbits against enteropathogenic Escherichia coli (EPEC) using an intimin null mutant.</style></title><secondary-title><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">BMC Vet Res</style></secondary-title><alt-title><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">BMC Vet. Res.</style></alt-title></titles><keywords><keyword><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Adhesins, Bacterial</style></keyword><keyword><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Animals</style></keyword><keyword><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Bacterial Vaccines</style></keyword><keyword><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Diarrhea</style></keyword><keyword><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Escherichia coli</style></keyword><keyword><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Escherichia coli Infections</style></keyword><keyword><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Escherichia coli Proteins</style></keyword><keyword><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Gene Deletion</style></keyword><keyword><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Mutation</style></keyword><keyword><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">Rabbits</style></keyword></keywords><dates><year><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">2006</style></year><pub-dates><date><style  face="normal" font="default" size="100%">2006 Jun 23</style></date></pub-dates></dates><volume><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">2</style></volume><pages><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">22</style></pages><language><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">eng</style></language><abstract><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">&lt;p&gt;&lt;b&gt;BACKGROUND: &lt;/b&gt;Diarrhea and mortality resulting from infections with enteropathogenic Escherichia coli (EPEC) are of major economic importance in the rabbit meat industry. There is a growing need for an effective vaccine to cope with these problems and to reduce the use of antibiotics. EPEC are characterized by an attaching and effacing virulence mechanism. This is partly mediated by the intimate binding between an adhesin, called intimin, and a translocated receptor (Tir) of prokaryote origin. We constructed an intimin deletion mutant of the rabbit EPEC (REPEC) wild-type strain 97/241.6 (bio-/serogroup 3-/O15) and examined its protective capacity.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;b&gt;RESULTS: &lt;/b&gt;After verifying its complete loss of virulence, we used the attenuated strain in vaccination-challenge experiments in which complete protection against a homologous, but virulent, strain was observed. The attenuated strain was able to persist in the intestinal lumen, where it elicited an immune response against EPEC-related virulence proteins, as was shown using an EspB-specific ELISA. Despite the priming of an immune response and the generation of specific antibodies, the intimin mutant was not able to fully protect rabbits against challenges with REPEC strains of other bio-/serogroups.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;b&gt;CONCLUSION: &lt;/b&gt;These data indicate that protection against REPEC infections is at least partly bio-/serogroup dependent and a multivalent vaccine may be needed for protection against the full range of REPEC types. Such a combination vaccine may be developed using intimin null mutants, as the latter were clearly shown to be safe and effective against homologous infections.&lt;/p&gt;</style></abstract><custom1><style face="normal" font="default" size="100%">http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16796739?dopt=Abstract</style></custom1></record></records></xml>