Outer membrane proteins and vesicles as promising vaccine candidates against Vibrio spp. infections

Abstract

Indiscriminate use of antibiotics to treat bacterial infections has brought unmanageable antibiotic-resistant strains into existence. Vibrio spp. represents one such gram-negative enteric pathogenic group with more than 100 species, infecting humans and fish. The Vibrio spp. is demarcated into two groups, one that causes cholera and the other producing non-cholera or vibriosis infections. People who encounter contaminated water are at risk, but young children and pregnant women are the most vulnerable. Though controllable, Vibrio infection still necessitates the development of preventative measures, such as vaccinations, that can lessen the severity of the infection and reduce reliance on antibiotic use. With emerging multi-drug resistant strains, efforts are needed to develop newer vaccines, such as subunit-based or outer membrane vesicle-based. Thus, this review strives to bring together available information about Vibrio spp. outer membrane proteins and vesicles, encompassing their structure, function, and immunoprotective role.

Keywords:

• Vibrio
• vaccines
• outer membrane proteins
• outer membrane vesicles
• gram-negative bacteria

Acknowledgement

B. S. and S. J. thank the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), Government of India, for the PhD fellowship.

Disclosure statement

The authors declare no competing interests.

Additional information

Funding

No competing financial interests have been declared. Funding for this work was provided by the Indian Council of Medical Research, Govt. of India, for a research grant [OMI/17/2020-ECD-1] and the Department of Science and Technology, Govt. of India, for a research grant [CRG/2020/358].