Reverse Vaccinology: Combating Endocarditis Caused by Streptococcus mutans

INTRODUCTION Endocarditis is a disease where the inner tissue around heart valves becomes inflamed due to a bacterial infection that originates in the bloodstream. It is commonly known that the bacteria from the genus Streptococcus can initiate infection (Moreillon & Que, 2004). No vaccine against streptococcal endocarditis is currently available (Moreillon & Que, 2004). Despite lack of success in vaccine development there is a new reason for optimism: a recent achievement in immunology called reverse vaccinology. This strategy uses a combination of in silico, in vitro and in vivo techniques and is an efficient way to uncover and to assess universal vaccine candidates. By using reverse vaccinology researchers are able to identify vaccine candidates and subsequently test them for effectiveness across all strains of Streptococcus (Barocchi, Censini, & Rappuoli, 2007). In collaboration with others, this particular project will focus on Streptococcus mutans in order to deduce a universal vaccine for streptococcal endocarditis.