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Full-Text Articles in Life Sciences

Assessing The Durability Of The Immune Response Induced By Rivax®, A Ricin Subunit Vaccine, Hayley Lynn Novak May 2021

Assessing The Durability Of The Immune Response Induced By Rivax®, A Ricin Subunit Vaccine, Hayley Lynn Novak

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

Assessing the performance and durability of the antibody response in animal models can assist in the development of biodefense vaccines. Ricin is one of the most toxic biological agents known and has been a public health issue for years. Since ricin is easily manufactured and a deadly toxin, rational vaccine design and immunotherapeutic optimization have been explored. RiVax® is a candidate subunit vaccine with a modified A-chain of ricin toxin that was formulated to remove ricin's biological activity. It is thought that RiVax® could serve as a prophylactic that would induce humoral- and cell-mediated immunological responses that elicit protective antigens …


Intrabodies Reveal Critical Steps Involved In Ricin's Interactions With The Ribosome, Timothy Francis Czajka Jan 2021

Intrabodies Reveal Critical Steps Involved In Ricin's Interactions With The Ribosome, Timothy Francis Czajka

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

Ricin is a highly lethal protein toxin derived from the seeds of the castor plant, Ricinus communis. It is a Type II ribosome inactivating protein (RIP), meaning it is a heterodimer with one subunit, ricin toxin B (RTB), that mediates cell surface attachment and intracellular trafficking and a second subunit, ricin toxin A (RTA), that irreversibly shuts down protein synthesis in the cytosol. During trafficking, RTA and RTB necessarily separate in the endoplasmic reticulum, wherein RTA unfolds and translocates into the cytosol where it refolds into an enzymatically active conformation. RTA is remarkably fast acting and efficient, with few molecules …


Passive Immunization Against Invasive Salmonella Enterica, Angelene Richards Jan 2021

Passive Immunization Against Invasive Salmonella Enterica, Angelene Richards

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

The Gram-negative bacterium, Salmonella enterica is a prominent etiologic agent of both diarrheal disease and enteric fever that encompasses over 2500 serovars, including S. Typhimurium (STm) and S. Typhi (STy). S. enterica is transmitted through contaminated food and water and, following ingestion, invades the gastrointestinal (GI) mucosa. The bacterium uses flagellar-based motility to target microfold (M) cells overlying gut-associated lymphoid tissues known as Peyer’s patches in the small intestine. Entry into Peyer’s patch tissues is a pivotal step in the infection process, as the bacterium can then disseminate systemically in the host. Given the rise in antibiotic resistance amongst S. …