METHOD FOR PREPARING A COMPOUND CONSTITUTED OF A S. MUTANS ADHESIVE WALL WHICH HAS A PROTEIN NATURE AND OF A S. MUTANS POLYSACCHARIDE AND ITS USE AS ANTI-CARIES VACCINE

摘要

The conjugate according to the invention is constituted by a wall adhesin of Streptococcus mutans, of a proteinic nature, capable of binding the components of saliva, or an active fraction of such a protein, covalently coupled to a Streptococcus mutans polysaccharide, or to a fraction of such a polysaccharide. Preferably, the adhesin is constituted by a single polypeptide chain having a molecular weight of about 74,000; it is common to the different serotypes of Streptococcus mutans where it has a crossed antigenicity; and it is capable of interacting with the salivary glycoproteins and polysaccharide derived from the same serotype of S. mutans, particularly serotype f. Use for the preparation of immunogenic compositions, particularly for the preparation of vaccines against dental caries.