Bacteria-Mucin Interaction in the Upper Aerodigestive Tract Shows Striking Heterogeneity: Implications in Otitis Media, Sinusitis, and Pneumonia

I. Introduction 69

II. Materials and Methods 70

A. Bacteria 70

B. Purification of Mucins 71

C. Overlay Binding Assay 71

D. Inhibition of Binding 72

III. Results 72

IV. Discussion 76

References 79

I. Introduction

In an era of rapidly emerging bacterial resistance to antibiotics, other strategies of

eliminating infectious diseases must be sought. Among the latter mechanisms are

systemic vaccination with specific bacterial outer-membrane proteins (OMPs),

bacterial interference, and mucosal vaccination with bacteria or bacterial

products.