Mucosal vaccines for biodefense

Abstract

Bioterrorism is the deliberate release of biological toxins, pathogenic viruses, bacteria, parasites, or other infectious agents into the public sphere with the objective of causing panic, illness, and/or death on a local, regional, or possibly national scale. The list of potential biological agents compiled by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is long and diverse. However, a trait common to virtually all the potential bioterrorism agents is the fact that they are likely to be disseminated by either aerosol or in food/water supplies with the intention of targeting the mucosal surfaces of the respiratory or gastrointestinal tracts, respectively. In some instances, inhalation or ingestion would mimic the natural route by which humans are exposed to these agents. In other instances, (e.g., the inhalation of a toxin is normally associated with food borne illness), it would represent an unnatural route of exposure. For most potential bioterrorism agents, the respiratory or gastrointestinal mucosa may simply serve as a route of entry by which they gain access to the systemic compartment where intoxication/replication occurs. For others, however, the respiratory or gastrointestinal mucosa is the primary tissue associated with pathogenesis, and therefore, the tissue for which countermeasures must be developed.

Fig. 1

Locations of NIAID-Sponsored Regional and National Biodefense Laboratories in the United States. Image from www3.niaid.nih.gov/LabsAndResources/resources/dmid/NBL_RBL/site.htm

Fig. 2

Class III biological safety cabinets for biodefense research available at RBLs. The NIAID-sponsored RBLs provide full containment for infectious aerosol challenge studies with primates, as well as instrumentation for specialized bioaerosol characterization studies