Intracellular Bacterial Vaccine Vectors: Immunology, Cell Biology, and Genetics

Host defense against infectious microorganisms is becoming an intensively studied topic; recent advances in immunology and microbiology have resulted in a substantially improved understanding of the pathways used by a variety of microorganisms to infect humans.

This resource provides up-to-date reviews of the invasion strategies utilized by selected bacteria and then shows how these microorganisms can be manipulated to generate potential vaccines. The book begins with a comprehensive review of the relationship between bacterial life-styles and immune responsiveness to bacterial antigens. The book is divided into two parts: Part 1 describes basic research intended primarily for academic scientists. Included in this section are chapters describing the use of Listeria monocytogenes, Salmonella typhimurium and Bacillus Calmette-Guerin (BCG) to invoke different types of immune response. Part 2 describes the application of the engineered Listeria monocytogenes as a vaccine against specific tumors and the use of recombinant Salmonella and BCG in clinical trials for HIV and TB