the following examples illustrate the invention wherein example 1 describes recombinant production of chimeric proteins of the invention , example 2 describes assays to test the immunogenicity of the chimeric proteins of the invention , example 3 describes assays for evaluating passive immunization , example 4 describes assays for evaluating active immunization and example 5 describes the evaluation of a chimeric protein of the invention . the chimeric proteins of the invention were produced using standard recombinant methods . initially , a gene - synthesis company , ( blue heron biotechnology inc .) was contracted to make the initial plasmid based on the chimeric protein amino acid sequences described herein that were optimized for e . coli preferred codon usage . briefly , the native nthi pilin protein sequence was modified by truncating the n - terminus ( residues 1 - 39 of seq id no : 2 ) and adding a his - tag sequence and a thrombin cleavage site as set out in seq id no : 3 . the his - tag was preceded by a sequence ( muss ) to assist in expression . the thrombin cleavage site allowed for release of the his - tag . these plasmids were then cloned into the e . coli expression vector pet - 15b vector ( novagen ). the plasmid were then transformed into e . coli strain “ origami ( de3 )” ( available from novagen ) as the host for expression of soluble his - tagged chimeric proteins . another e . coli host cell expression stain that may be used is origami b ( de3 ) ( novagen ). the his - tagged variants of the chimeric proteins will be recovered by nickel column chromatography , then used for initial studies to determine if they are reactive with antisera directed against any of the following : native omp p5 - fimbrin , lb1 ( full length 40 amino acid peptide ), lb1 ( 1 ) ( a synthetic peptide representing just the 19 amino acid b - cell epitope of lb1 ), recombinant pila protein or native pila protein . once the his - tag is removed by thrombin site cleavage , the recombinant chimeric proteins will be used as immunogens to determine their immunogenicity and protective capability . exemplary chimeric proteins of the invention have the sequences as set out in table 2 below . the chimeric proteins having the amino acid sequences of seq id nos : 10 , 12 and 14 have been expressed by e . coli as described above . additional exemplary chimeric proteins of the invention have the amino acid sequences as set out in table 3 below . these chimeric proteins have been expressed by e . coli and purified using a his - tag , as described above . the chimeric proteins set out in table 3 have the his tag sequence removed for use as an immunogen . the chimeric protein having the amino acid sequence of seq id no : 56 was used in the studies described in example 5 . rabbits or chinchillas are immunized with the chimeric proteins . rabbits receive an initial immunizing dose of 500 μg of a chimeric protein in complete freund &# 39 ; s adjuvant . the rabbits receive a second dose of 400 μg of the chimeric protein 21 days later . the rabbits receive a third dose of chimeric protein in complete freund &# 39 ; s adjuvant 42 days after the initial immunizing dose with 400 μg of the same peptide in either ifa or pbs ( one rabbit per diluent ). sera are obtained 3 weeks after each dose . chinchillas receive an initial immunizing dose of 10 μg of the chimeric protein in the adjuvant monophosphoryl lipid a ( mpl ). one month (˜ 30 days ) later , chinchillas receive a second identical dose . the third and final dose is delivered 30 days after the second dose . sera are obtained ˜ 10 - 14 days after each dose . the sera from all animals are assessed for titer and specificity against the lb1 peptide ( 40 - mer ), lb1 ( 1 ), pila protein and the chimeric proteins , by elisa , western blot and biosensor . antisera are also tested against whole bacteria via flow cytometry ( facs ) analysis . the protection conferred by an animal &# 39 ; s immune response directed against the chimeric proteins of the invention is determined in a chinchilla model of experimental otitis media . chinchillas are passively immunized with 5 ml / kg hyperimmune chinchilla or human serum directed against a chimeric protein of the invention . control chinchillas receive normal chinchilla serum or normal human serum . next the chinchillas receive first a viral co - pathogen intranasally , then a week later , an intranasal challenge with the nthi bacteria . the chinchillas are examined and rated daily or every 2 days for up to 35 days after bacterial challenge . immunized chinchillas receiving immune chinchilla or human serum display reduced tympanic membrane pathology and reduced or absent signs of infection of the middle ear space as determined by both video otoscopy and tympanometry . in this assay , the presence of middle ear fluids in chinchillas receiving chinchilla or human anti - chimeric protein serum is reduced when compared to controls . cohorts of 5 - 10 chinchillas each are actively immunized with either a saline control preparation , an adjuvant - only preparation , or one of the chimeric proteins of the invention that has been admixed with an appropriate adjuvant . the immunogens are assessed for endotoxin content prior to their use as an immunogen via a chromogenic amoebocyte lysate assay which is commercially available from whittaker bioproducts under the designation qcl - 1000 . the chinchillas are then subcutaneously injected with 10 μg immunogen in the adjuvant mpl ( or another appropriate adjuvant ). then 30 days later they receive 10 μg of the same immunogen in mpl . thirty days following the second immunization , these animals receive the final immunizing dose . approximately 10 - 14 days after the final immunizing dose is delivered , chinchillas are challenged both transbullarly and intranasally with a strain of nthi . the chinchillas are assessed over a 35 - day period for : tympanic membrane pathology by video otoscopic examination and tympanometry ; semiquantitation of nthi recovered via epitympanic tap of the inferior bulla and passive lavage of the nasopharynx ; and light microscopic examination of fixed middle ear mucosal epithelium and tympanic membrane for histopathology . for example , chinchillas immunized with the chimeric proteins of the invention will have reduced tympanic membrane pathology , will be free of middle ears effusions or they will contain effusions that are culture - negative , there will be reduced or no biofilm present in the tympanum and there will be minimal thickening of the middle ear mucosa , minimal osteoneogensis and reduced presence of both red blood cells and inflammatory cells in the subepithelial space . the protective efficacy of the chimeric protein having the amino acid sequence of seq id no : 56 ( referred to as “ chim - v3 ” herein ) was evaluated using the chinchilla passive - transfer , superinfection model of om . this chimeric peptide comprised the b - cell epitope of the lb1 peptide ( seq id no : 5 ) expressed after the c - terminal glutamine residue of recombinant pila ( residues 40 - 149 of seq id no : 2 ). to generate polyclonal antiserum for use in passive transfer efficacy studies , the chim - v3 protein was delivered to a cohort of adult chinchillas with the adjuvant , monophosphoryl lipid a ( mpl ) plus trehalose dimycolate ( corixa ). a timeline depicting the immunization regimen is set out in fig1 . to generate immune serum pools , alert prone chinchillas were immunized subcutaneously 3 times with 30 μg of chim - v3 plus 10 μg of mpl or 10 μg mpl alone every 21 days . at day 56 , a terminal bleed of the inoculated animals was collected and serum was pooled for transfer to naïve juvenile animals . to study efficacy , a separate cohort of juvenile chinchillas was first challenged with adenovirus on day − 7 . six days later ( day − 1 ), the pooled anti - chim - v3 immune serum was passively transferred to these adenovirus - compromised animals . the following day ( day 0 ), animals that received anti - chim - v3 serum by passive transfer were challenged with the bacterium , nontypeable haemmophilus influenzae . these animals were then monitored for incidence and severity of disease over a 26 - day time - course ( relative to bacterial challenge ) by daily video otoscopy and tympanometry as well as xenogen in vivo imaging every other day . the titer of anti - chim - v3 antibody was measured in the immune serum collected from the inoculated animals using an elisa . this analysis demonstrated that the collected antiserum contained antibodies specific for the chim - v3 protein . the presence of anti - chim - v3 antibodies in the collected antiserum as also confirmed using western blot analysis . facs analysis was used to measure the ability of serum immunoglobulins from immunized animals to recognize surface exposed native structures expressed by nthi 86 - 028 np . nthi bacteria were incubated with chim - v3 antiserum , washed , then incubated with naïve or immune fitc - protein a , washed and analyzed by facs analysis . inoculation with the chim - v3 protein induced a significant increase in antibodies that were capable of recognizing the nthi surface proteins or chim - v3 protein . the data obtained were dependent on both antibody titer and avidity as well as relative expression of both the type iv pilus and the omp p5 - homologous adhesion by nthi when grown in vitro . the luminescent reporter nthi 86 - 028 np pkmln - 1 was used to detect nthi infection in the animals inoculated with chim - v3 protein using xenogen in vivo real - time imagining . growth curves of the luminescent strain nthi 86 - 028 np pkmln - 1 and the parental strain nthi 86 - 028 demonstrated that growth of the luminescent nthi strain was comparable to the parental strain . luminescent imaging of nthi residing in the nasopharynx of the inoculated animals was readily accomplished however , due to the microaerophilic nature of the diseased middle ear , luminescence of nthi present in the middle ear could not be monitored over the entire disease course because the luminescence is dependent on the availability of oxygen . animals were monitored every other day for the presence of luminescent bacteria , and if bacteria were detected , this was recorded as a luminescent event . luminescent infection was detected at least six days after challenge in the inoculated animals . the total number of luminescent events in the chim - v3 inoculated animals was less than the total number of luminescent events in the control animals ( inoculated with mpl only ). throughout the course of the study , daily video otoscopy and tympanometry was used to determine the percent of chinchilla middle ears with om . inoculation with chim - v3 caused 53 % reduction in the number of animals with middle ears having om as compared to control animals ( inoculated with mpl only ). all of these studies demonstrate that the chim - v3 protein was immunogenic and anti - chim - v3 antibodies were protective in the chinchilla passive transfer - superinfection model of om .
the invention described herein relates to a chimeric protein comprising the nthi twitching pilus major subunit protein presenting a portion of the nthi omp p5 protein . the invention provides for vaccine compositions comprising the recombinant chimeric protein and methods of eliciting an immune response using the recombinant chimeric proteins of the invention .