Degree
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
Department
Chemistry
Document Type
Dissertation
Abstract
Acinetobacter baumannii is a Gram-negative, multi drug-resistant bacterium that was placed on the World Health Organization’s watchlist of drug-resistant bacteria. A. baumannii is an ESKAPE pathogen, one of six increasingly antimicrobial-resistant bacteria that are responsible for nosocomial infections. Alternative therapies, such as vaccines, are required to decrease the world’s reliance on antimicrobial agents. Specifically, glycoconjugate vaccines such as those used against Haemophilus influenzae B, Streptococcus pneumoniae, and Neisseria meningitidis are used globally and are highly effective. These vaccines consist of an antigenic bacterial glycan bound to a carrier protein. The glycan is usually a capsular polysaccharide (CPS), however, the notion of using lipopolysaccharides (LPS) or lipooligosaccharides (LOS) is gaining traction. These glycans are found on the surface of bacteria and are important immunological targets for the development of vaccines. To date, there are no FDA-approved vaccines against A. baumannii, and a glycoconjugate vaccine could represent an effective approach for prevention of infection. The focus of this work is the design of a glycoconjugate vaccine against clinically relevant strains of Acinetobacter Baumannii. This work specifically focuses on the synthesis of an A. baumannii LOS subunit and various analogs for use in a structure-activity relationship (SAR) study to elucidate the most efficacious subunit structure for vaccine development. Synthesis and immunological evaluation of an A. baumannii LOS subunit can be used to evaluate potential vaccine candidates.
Date
5-25-2023
Recommended Citation
Armstrong, James M. II, "Synthesis of an Acinetobacter Baumannii Lipooligosaccharide Subunit" (2023). LSU Doctoral Dissertations. 6176.
https://repository.lsu.edu/gradschool_dissertations/6176
Committee Chair
Ragains, Justin
DOI
10.31390/gradschool_dissertations.6176