Trial lecture - time and place
19.01.2024, 10.15, Auditorium 1, Helga Eng
Diagnostic, prophylactic and therapeutic potential of extracellular vesicles in human biology
Conferral summary
Akvakultur er en viktig og voksende del av næringsindustrien.
I dette doktorarbeidet studeres Gram-negative bakterier som forårsaker sykdom i oppdrettsfisk og deres utskilte ekstracellulære vesikler. Funnene gir en bedre forståelse av vaksinedesign basert på ekstracellulare vesikler og vil bidra til å forbedre dyrevelferd i akvakultur ved å forebygge sykdomsutbrudd.
Main research findings
The aquaculture industry is an important producer of food sources worldwide. Continuous vaccine development is required in aquaculture as many pathogens, such as Gram-negative bacteria, pose infection risks. Examples are the pathogenic Gram-negative bacteria Yersinia ruckeri and Francisella spp. They are the causative agents of the diseases yersiniosis and francisellosis in cultured fish. In this thesis, vaccine approaches based on extracellular vesicles (EVs) against yersiniosis and francisellosis were investigated. EVs display the outer membrane characteristics of the bacterium and can elicit protective immunity in a host against pathogenic bacteria. However, the application of EVs as vaccines requires a high production yield. The studies included in this thesis demonstrate increased EV isolation yield. This was achieved by utilization of bacterial bioengineering as a tool, where both gene deletion and recombinant expression enabled EV production with high yields. In addition, the results from a vaccine trial show important pitfalls in EV-based vaccines and will help to improve future EV-vaccine formulations. Taken together, the studies in this thesis lead to a better understanding of EV-vaccine design against Gram-negative fish pathogens and will help to improve fish welfare in aquaculture by better prevention of disease outbreaks.