# Neutralizing the GBS hemolytic lipid toxin

> **NIH NIH R01** · SEATTLE CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL · 2022 · $805,917

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY
Human morbidity and mortality due to bacterial infections continue to remain significant public health concern.
Group B Streptococcus (GBS) or Streptococcus agalactiae cause invasive infections during pregnancy
leading to preterm births, stillbirths or infections in newborns. Furthermore, GBS also cause infections in the
normal, elderly, diabetic and immuno-compromised adults. Our work has shown that the hemolysin, which is
a key virulence factor for GBS infections is a pigmented ornithine rhamnolipid also known as granadaene.
This hemolytic lipid toxin is cytotoxic to a number of host cells leading to adverse outcomes to newborns and
adult humans. The objectives of this proposal are to identify additional nontoxic analogs that can prevent toxin
function during GBS infections using murine models of infection, to elucidate host immune mechanisms
important for analog mediated immunity against this GBS toxin, to determine how membrane vesicles
exacerbate GBS pathogenesis and if antibodies can attenuate their effects. Collectively, the results from these
aims will be important and relevant for prevention of GBS infections in humans and will be relevant to other
diseases caused by pathogens encoding toxic lipids.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10392131
- **Project number:** 1R01AI167421-01
- **Recipient organization:** SEATTLE CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL
- **Principal Investigator:** Lakshmi Rajagopal
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2022
- **Award amount:** $805,917
- **Award type:** 1
- **Project period:** 2022-06-16 → 2027-05-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10392131

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10392131, Neutralizing the GBS hemolytic lipid toxin (1R01AI167421-01). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-22 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10392131. Licensed CC0.

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