en میکروب شناسی Microbiology مقالات اصلی Original Article <div style="text-align: justify;"><strong><em>Background:</em></strong> <em>Pseudomonas aeruginosa,</em> an opportunistic pathogen, is a common cause of healthcare-associated infections in immunocompromised individuals. The rapid emergence of multidrug-resistant strains has made <em>P. aeruginosa </em>infections progressively difficult to treat. In this study we evaluated the effect of a chimeric protein containing a <em>P</em><strong><em><span dir="RTL">.</span></em></strong><em> aeruginosa</em> PilQ fragment and the PilA disulfide loop (PilA-DSL) on the humoral immune response in BALB/c mice.<br> <br> <strong><em>Methods:</em></strong> A chimeric gene encoding an immunogenic region of PilQ and the PilA-DSL was synthesized. Following bacterial expression and purification, the protein was administered to mice and the humoral immune response analyzed. The resulting antibodies were analyzed using an opsonophagocytic killing assay.<br> <br> <strong><em>Results:</em></strong> The anti-recombinant protein antibody titer was significantly greater in immunized mice than in controls. In addition, antibody titers were significantly increased after booster immunizations, and the immunizations induced opsonophagocytosis of <em>P. aeruginosa</em> PAO1.<br> <br> <strong><em>Conclusions:</em></strong> These results suggest that an anti-adhesion-based vaccination may be effective in preventing <em>P. aeruginosa</em> infections. Further studies are needed to evaluate the abilities of such bivalent proteins to induce strong immune responses.</div> Chimeric protein, PilQ, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Type IV pili, Vaccine 38 44 http://rbmb.net/browse.php?a_code=A-10-99-1&slc_lang=en&sid=1 Mehrdad Gholami 10031947532846006363 10031947532846006363 No Department of Microbiology, Faculty of Medicine, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran Alireza Salimi Chirani 10031947532846006364 10031947532846006364 No Department of Medical Microbiology, School of Medicine, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran Reza Falak 10031947532846006365 10031947532846006365 No Immunology Research Center, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran Mona Moshiri 10031947532846006366 10031947532846006366 No Division of Microbiology, Department of Pathobiology, School of Public Health, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran Shabnam Razavi dr.irajian@gmail.com 10031947532846006367 10031947532846006367 Yes Department of Microbiology, Faculty of Medicine, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran & Microbial Biotechnology Research Center, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran. Gholamreza Irajian* 10031947532846006368 10031947532846006368 No Department of Microbiology, Faculty of Medicine, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran & Microbial Biotechnology Research Center, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.