dc.contributor.advisor |
Radcliff, Fiona |
|
dc.contributor.author |
Truter, Sebastian |
|
dc.date.accessioned |
2021-08-30T23:45:25Z |
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dc.date.available |
2021-08-30T23:45:25Z |
|
dc.date.issued |
2021 |
en |
dc.identifier.uri |
https://hdl.handle.net/2292/56304 |
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dc.description |
Full Text is available to authenticated members of The University of Auckland only. |
en |
dc.description.abstract |
Neisseria gonorrhoeae is a human obligate bacterial pathogen responsible for causing the sexually transmitted infection, gonorrhea. There are approximately 86 million new cases of gonorrhea worldwide each year. The pathogen has evolved alongside humans for centuries and has subsequently become intricately resistant to both the natural human immune system and many antimicrobial treatments. This rapid evolution of antimicrobial resistance has led to a continuously diminishing number of viable gonorrhea treatments. Without development of new antimicrobial treatments or a preventative vaccine, the potential of a completely untreatable, ‘super gonorrhoea’ is fast approaching.
Recently, retrospective evidence has shown that the MeNZB vaccine reduces the risk of gonorrhea infection by approximately 30%. The vaccine contains outer membrane vesicles of the related pathogen Neisseria meningitidis, which contain immunogenic proteins. The mechanisms behind this observed cross-protection are unknown and require additional testing. One possible mechanism of protection is the production of cross-reactive, anti-adherence antibodies. Adherence is the initial step of gonorrhea pathogenesis and is crucial for subsequent infection. Here we posit the idea of creating a fluorescent reporter plasmid system as a surrogate measure of gonococcal growth to measure the gonococcal anti-adherence properties of the MeNZB vaccine.
The aims of this thesis were to characterise several fluorescent reporter strains of N. gonorrhoeae and test their utility in high-throughput assays. These fluorescent reporter strains were compared against enumeration of colony forming units for measurement of gonococcal growth in vitro. Furthermore, this study describes the development of an in-house gonococcal adherence assay, using the ME-180 cervical carcinoma cell line, to test the gonococcal anti-adherence properties of the MeNZB vaccine sera. This study shows that although the posited fluorescent reporter system was not suitable due to high levels of autofluorescence, the adherence assay developed is robust and methodologically sound. We have shown that vaccination with MeNZB elicits antibodies that are able to reduce the adherence of at least one gonococcal strain. This is the first recorded evidence of such an interaction. As such, these findings provide a foundation for future research to determine the exact anti-gonococcal effects of the MeNZB vaccine. |
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dc.publisher |
ResearchSpace@Auckland |
en |
dc.relation.ispartof |
Masters Thesis - University of Auckland |
en |
dc.relation.isreferencedby |
UoA |
en |
dc.rights |
Restricted Item. Full Text is available to authenticated members of The University of Auckland only. |
en |
dc.rights |
Items in ResearchSpace are protected by copyright, with all rights reserved, unless otherwise indicated. |
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dc.rights.uri |
https://researchspace.auckland.ac.nz/docs/uoa-docs/rights.htm |
en |
dc.rights.uri |
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/nz/ |
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dc.title |
Determining the Gonococcal Anti- adherence properties of the MeNZB Vaccine |
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dc.type |
Thesis |
en |
thesis.degree.discipline |
Biomedicine |
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thesis.degree.grantor |
The University of Auckland |
en |
thesis.degree.level |
Masters |
en |
dc.date.updated |
2021-07-06T05:39:39Z |
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dc.rights.holder |
Copyright: the author |
en |
dc.identifier.wikidata |
Q112957051 |
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