New proteins for use in human and animal Staphylococcus infections

The present invention relates to a polypeptide termed ply_pitti26 comprising the sequence as depicted in SEQ E) NO:1 as well as variants of this polypeptide. Furthermore, the present invention relates to nucleic acids and vectors encoding for said polypeptide and variants thereof as well as host cells comprising these nucleic acids and/or vectors. Finally, the present invention relates to the uses of said polypeptide, variants thereof, nucleic acid sequences, vectors and host cells, in particular for the treatment or prophylaxis of a subject infected by or exposed to Staphylococci.

Background of the Invention

Staphylococcal infections are a major cause of severe diseases with high mortality all over the world. The gram-positive pathogen Staphylococcus aureus is responsible for a variety of infections of the skin and soft tissues as well as life-threatening infections like bacteremia and endocarditis. In addition, Staphylococcus aureus is frequently involved in food poisoning. Due to its tolerance to low pH values and high salt conditions this pathogen grows in a variety of food products, especially of animal origin, producing a heat stable enterotoxin. Persons with a particular risk of infection are patients after surgery or during hemodialysis as well as premature infants and immunocompromised persons, or those with need for prosthetic devices. Staphylococcal infections are of particular global health concern because of their high distribution (about 25 - 30 % of the population are asymptomatic carriers) and of the increasing emergence of antibiotic resistant strains of Staphylococcus aureus. MRSA (methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus) is a prominent member of this group and a major cause of nosocomial infections. In addition, there are many multiresistant strains, even those which are resistant to the "drugs of the last line of defence" like vancomycin, linezolid or daptomycin. Infections with antibiotic resistant staphylococci rise enormous costs to the global health budgets, because the patients often need long-term stay in a hospital and have to be isolated from other patients.

Besides the coagulase positive S. aureus, pathogens from the group of the coagulase negative staphylococci are of importance. S. haemolyticus, for example, causes keratitis, S. epidermidis is

frequently found in biofilms on implanted devices which are associated with serious infections

(endoplastitis) and S. saprophyticus is responsible for urinary tract infections. Apart from infections of humans, cattle infections also play an important role. Especially, bovine mastitis, an infection of the mammary glands, is of commercial significance. Apart from S. aureus it is caused by some coagulase negative staphylococci like S. epidermidis, S. simulans, S. chromogenes, S. hyicus, S. warneri and S. xylosus.

Standard antibiotic therapy is becoming more and more ineffective. Hence, new strategies for treating bacterial infections are needed. They include the development of new antibiotics as well as the search for antimicrobial peptides. Uses of antibodies and putative vaccines or phage therapy are alternative approaches. However all of these methods exhibit serious disadvantages. At widespread use, novel antibiotics also will rise new resistances, antimicrobial peptides and monoclonal antibodies require a lot of additional investments until a routine use in therapy will be possible; immunization strategies against Staphylococcus aureus were not successful so far and phage therapy causes problems with immune response and tissue penetration as well as with a potential undesired transfer of bacterial toxins by the phages. The use of isolated peptidoglycan hydrolases, the so-called endolysins, represents an advancement of the phage therapy. Endolysins enzymatically hydrolyse the cell walls of those bacteria which are host organisms for their corresponding bacteriophages.

Description of the Relevant Art

After infection of the host bacterium, bacteriophages produce new phage particles within the host cell. At the end of the reproduction cycle the host cell must be lysed, to set free the new phage generation. Endolysins are produced as a tool for this lysis of the host cell. It was found, that endolysins also act on bacterial cell walls when they are added exogenously to non infected bacterial cells ("lysis from without"). The use of endolysins to kill contaminating bacteria in food was first disclosed by Gasson in 1991 (GB 2,255,561). First therapeutic and prophylactic applications in vivo using mouse model systems were described in 2001 by the group of Fischetti (Nelson & Fischetti, 2001, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA, 98, 4107-4112; Loeffler et al., 2001, Science, 94, 2170-2172). This work describes the topical application of endolysins against group A streptococci (oral application) and against pneumococci (nasopharyngeal application). Later, an application against Bacillus anthracis was added (Schuch et al., 2002, Nature 4J_8, 884-889). Entenza et al. (2005, Antimicrob. Agents Chemother., 49, 4789-4792) report the use of CpI-I

lysin against pneumococci causing endocarditis in rats. Endolysin PIyGBS was used to kill group

B streptococci in the vagina and oropharynx of a mouse model (Cheng et al., 2005, Antimicrob. Agents Chemother., 49, 111-117). Fischetti (2006, BMC Oral Health, 6, 16-19) summarizes the use of phage lytic enzymes to control pathogenic bacteria.

In US 5,997,862 a multitude of methods of treatments and pharmaceutical compositions to treat and prevent bacterial infections using phage derived lysins is disclosed. Several further patents teach specific compositions and uses of phage derived lysins for treatment of e.g. dermatological infections, ocular infections, infections of mouth and teeth, infections of the respiratory tract, various illnesses, bacterial infections in general, the parenteral use of lysin compositions, and the use of bandage compositions. US 2007-077235 describes lysin compositions to treat mastitis in animals.

Endolysins may be divided into five classes: (1) N-acetylmuramidases (lysozymes), (2) endo-β- N-acetylglucosaminidases, and (3) lytic transglycosylases, which all cleave the sugar moiety of peptidoglycan, (4) endopeptidases, which cleave the peptide moiety, and (5) N-actylmuramoyl-

L-alanine amidases, which cut the amide bond between sugar backbone and peptide linkers.

Endolysins show a modular organization exhibiting a combination of different polypeptide domains showing enzymatic activity or cell binding activity, the so-called EADs (enzymatically active domains) and CBDs (cell binding domains), respectively. Mostly, EADs are located at the

N-terminal part of the endolysins, and CBDs at the C-terminal parts, but there are also exceptions of this rule of thumb. It is also shown that modules can be exchanged between different cell wall lytic enzymes producing new functional enzymes, which sometimes exhibit even new functional properties (Diaz et al., 1990, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA, 87, 8125-8129; Croux et al., 1993, Molecular Microbiology, 9, 1019-1025; Donovan et al., 2006, Appl. &

Environm. Microbiol., 72, 2988-2996).

Since endolysins are typically more specific than antibiotics, it is unlikely that resistance development will rapidly occur. Therefore, the use of suitable endolysins acting on staphylococcus bacteria is a desirable means for the fight against the respective infections. Several endolysins active against staphylococcus bacteria are already described in the relevant art. Protein 17 associated with phage P68 is a staphylococcal endolysin which exhibits antimicrobial activity also against clinical S. aureus isolates (Takac et al., 2005, Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy, 49, 2934-2940). The endolysin plyTW derived from the S. aureus

phage Twort needs only the N-terminal enzymatically active fragment for hydrolytic activity against bacterial cells, whereas the C-terminal part with homology to lysostaphin seems dispensable (Loessner et al, 1998, FEMS Microbiol. Lett, 162, 265-274). Donovan et al. (2006, Appl. & Environm. Microbiol., 72, 2988-2996) created a chimaeric endolysin between Streptococcus agalactiae B30 endolysin and lysostaphin of Staphylococcus simulans with potential use in treatment of mastitis. Several groups used the endolysin of Staphylcoccus aureus bacteriophage phil l in antimicrobial applications. Navarre et al (1999, J. Biol. Chem., 274, 15847-15856) identified multiple enzymatic activities in phil l endolysin, and showed that a mutant with deletion of the amidase domain is still active. Donovan et al. (2006, FEMS Microbiol. Lett, 265, 133-139) used complete phil l endolysin as well as C-terminally truncated versions in assays against mastitis pathogens. Different mutants of phil l endolysin and phi 12 endolysin were tested in different activity assays on Staphylococcus aureus cell walls, heat inactivated cells and also bacterial biofilms (Sass & Bierbaum, 2007, Appl. & Environment. Microbiol., 73, 347-352). The endolysin of the Staphylococcus warneri phage φWMY, LysWMY, although reported to be closely related to phil 1 endolysin, retained full activity when the amidase as well as the cell binding domains were deleted (Yokoi et al., 2005, Gene 35J_, 97- 108). This result indicates that the functions of and interactions between the different endolysin modules are not equivalent even in closely related endolysins.

Although different endolysins against staphylococcus bacteria are known from the art, there is still a need for efficient staphylococcal endolysins that can be produced in an efficient way and in addition show high activity against microorganisms of the genus Staphylococcus.

The problem is solved by the subject matter as disclosed in the claims.

Brief Description of the Drawings

To illustrate certain aspects of the invention, the following drawings are presented. They are not intended to restrict the invention in any way.

Fig. 1 provides a schematic representation of the modular organization of different Staphylococcus endolysins

The endolysins are built up from CHAP (cysteine, histidine-dependent amidohydrolases/peptidases), and amidase (N-acetyl-muramyl-L-alanine amidase, ami) enzymatic domains, and SH3 -modules as cell binding domains (CBDs).

Fig. 2 Agar plate showing lysis zones in an acitivity test on heat inactivated staphylococcus cells Lysis plates include the respective staphylococcus strain to be tested in a top agar layer. Either E. coli strains harbouring plasmids of the endolysin constructs to be tested or preparations of isolated endolysins are stippled to the top of the plates. Lysis zones appear after incubation depending on the lysing activity on the respective host bacterium. Number 1 depicts an example, where no lysis occurred (-). Numbers 2, 3, and 4 mark weak (+), medium (++) or strong (+++) lytic acticity of the respective endolysin variant. The agar plate in the figure exemplarily shows an assay, where the activity of several point mutations in EADplypitti26_CBDplyUSA were tested.

Fig. 3 Comparison of different artificial staphylococcus endolysin constructs

Artificial endolysin constructs according to the present invention are shown in this figure with respect to expression and solubility (fig. 3A), and activity in the turbidity assay (fig. 3B). Construct 3 is a synonym for EADplypitti26_CBDplyUSA, construct 5 is a synonym for EADplypitti26_CBDplypitti20, construct 9 and 5 are further artificial endolysins. The lanes on the SDS-gel are marked "P" for unsoluble pellet fraction and "S" for soluble supernatant fraction. A molecular mass standard is indicated in the margin. The position of the full-length endolysin constructs is marked by an arrow. The expression and solubility test at 37 ⁰ C is performed as described in example 2, the activity test is done like in example 5, but with a raw cell extract after expression of the proteins.

Fig. 4 Comparison of solubility after expression

Depicted are solubility tests performed after expression of endolysin constructs at 3O ⁰ C (described in example 2). Fig. 4 A shows an SDS-gel with the solubility test of wild-type plypitti26, fig. 4 B a respective test with EADplypitti26_CBDplyUSA. "P" denotes the insoluble "pellet fraction" whereas "S" denotes the soluble protein fraction found in the supernatant. The bands of the endolysins are marked with asterics, the arrow in fig. 4 A marks an E. coli protein which migrates only somewhat slower than plypitti26. The molecular mass marker lane is marked by an "M".

Fig. 5 Comparison between lysis activity of EADplypitti26_CBDplyUSA and wild-type plypitti26 on untreated cells

Concentration dependent lysis profiles were recorded on Staphylococcus aureus cells after addition of purified plypitti26 (numbers 1, 2, 3) or EADplypitti26_CBDplyUSA (numbers 4, 5, 6). The assay was performed as described in example 5. 2 μg, 5 μg or 10 μg each of isolated endolysin proteins were added to a bacterial cell suspension (addition indicated by the arrow, increasing protein concentration with increasing numbering of the traces) and decrease of the sample turbidity recorded until complete lysis.

Fig. 6 Lysis activity in human blood serum

Fig. 6 shows lysis of Staphylococcus aureus cells by EADplypitti26_CBDplyUSA measured with the turbidity assay performed in human blood serum. The decrease in optical density (abs) is measured against assay time (s). EADplypitti26_CBDplyUSA at concentrations of 25 μg/ml (- ), 50 μg/ml (- ^• - ^• - ^• - ^• - ^• ) or 100 μg/ml (- ^•• - ^•■ - ^■• -) was applied at time point zero. The solid line represents a control without addition of endolysin. The assay is described in example 6.

Fig. 7 Stability of EADplypitti26_CBDplyUSA in comparison to wild-type pitti26 The figure shows pictures of SDS-gels depicting endolysin preparations after incubation at 25 ⁰ C in storage buffer (see example 6). In figure 7 A, EADplypitti26_CBDplyUSA is applied onto the gel, figure 7 B shows plypitti26 protein. The first lane represents a molecular standard with the time of incubation at 25 ⁰ C in hours. The position of the full-length endolysin is marked by an arrow.

Fig. 8 Stability against thrombin Figure 8 A represents a picture of SDS-gels showing EADplypitti26_CBDplyUSA (lanes 3, 4) and wild-type plypitti26 (lanes 1, 2) before and after digestion with thrombin. The first lane (M) is a molecular mass standard. Lanes 1 and 3 are controls (without addition of thrombin), and lanes 2 and 4 show the protein samples after addition of thrombin. The position of the full-length endolysins is marked by an arrow. Figure 8 B depicts an activity assay using turbidity measurements before and after digestion with thrombin. On the left plypitti26 is shown, on the right EADplypitti26_CBDplyUSA. Solid lines represent the lytic activity without addition of thrombin, dotted lines the residual activity after thrombin digestion. The experiment is described in example 8.

Fig. 9 Stability in human blood

Fig. 9 shows the stability of EADplypitti26_CBDplyUSA after preincubation in human blood at 37 ⁰ C. The activity level achieved without preincubation is set to 100 %. (•) marks the activity after preincubation in buffer, and (A) marks the respective preincubation in human EDTA- blood. The assays are described in example 9.

Fig. 10 A-C

Fig. 1OA shows the amino acid sequence of a modified EADplypitti26_CBDplyUSA - EADplypitti26_CBDplyUSA-Add2_M5. Figs. 1OB and C show nucleic acid sequences encoding the modified E ADplypitti26_CBDplyUS A - E ADplypitti26_CBDplyUS A- Add2_M5.

Fig. 11 Lysis activity in buffer

Fig. 11 shows a comparison of the lysis activity of different endolysin constructs against

Staphylococcus aureus cells. Measured is the decrease in absorbance at 600 run achieved per minute and mg protein (δA _6O o /min mg) after addition of protein at concentrations of 1 μg/ml (left panel) or 10 μg/ml. The protein constructs used are from left to right plypitti26 (chequered), EADplypitti26_CBDplyUSA (horizontal lines), EADplypitti26_CBDplyUSA-Add2_M5 (grey), EADplypitti26_CBDplyUSA-Add2_M8 (white), EADplypitti26_CBDLS-Add2_M5 (vertical lines), EADplypitti26_CBDALEl-Add2_M5 (black), lysostaphin (chequerboard).

Fig. 12 Lysis activity in human serum

Fig. 12 shows a comparison of the lysis activity of different endolysin constructs against Staphylococcus aureus cells. Measured is the decrease in absorbance at 600 nm achieved per minute and mg protein (δA ₆ o ₀ /min mg) after addition of protein at concentrations of 10 μg/ml (left panel) or 25 μg/ml. The protein constructs used are from left to right EADplypitti26_CBDplyUSA (horizontal lines), EADplypitti26_CBDplyUSA-Add2_M5 (grey), EADplypitti26_CBDplyUSA-Add2_M8 (white), EADplypitti26_CBDLS-Add2_M5 (vertical lines), EADplypitti26_CBDALEl-Add2_M5 (black).

Fig. 13 Thermal stability of Staphylococcal endolysins

Fig. 13 shows a representative curve measured during thermal denaturation of Staphylococcal endolysins. The absorption at a wavelength of 360 nm (A ₃₆₀ ) is measured at increasing temperatures (T, °C). Fig. 13 shows the turbidity signal measured using EADplypitti26_CBDALEl-Add2_M5 at a concentration of 0.1 mg/ml. The arrow marks the

temperature where the A ₃₆₀ signal increases significantly as aggeregation of the protein begins.

This temperature is defined as the aggregation temperature T _aggr .

Fig. 14 Pharmacokinetic study for EADplypitti26_CBDplyUSA-Add2_M5 Fig. 14 A shows the residual activity of the endolysin variant EADplypitti26_CBDplyUSA- Add2_M5 in rat serum measured with a turbidity assay in microtiter plate format at different time points after FV injection of the protein. The activity values (δA ₆₂₀ /min) shown represent the mean value ± standard deviation measured in samples taken from 3 rats each at the time points after injection. Fig. 14 B shows the endolysin activity of the variant EADplypitti26_CBDplyUSA-Add2_M5 in rat serum taken 5 min after IV injection of the protein (black bar) in comparison to a control using 150 μg/ml protein in pre-immune serum (grey bar) or 150 μg/ml protein in formulation buffer.

Detailed Description of the Invention

The term "endolysin" or "peptidoglycan hydrolase" as used herein refers to an enzyme which is suitable to hydrolyse bacterial cell walls. The enzyme comprises at least one of the following activities of which the "enzymatically active domains" (EADs) of the endolysins are constituted: endopeptidase, carboxypeptidase, N-acetyl-muramoyl-L-alanine-amidase (amidase), N-acetyl- muramidase (lysozyme or lytic transglycosylase) or N-acetyl-glucosaminidase. Either, the enzyme is phage or prophage encoded or it is derived from related enzymes coded by bacteria, the so-called "autolysins". In addition, the endolysins usually contain also regions which are enzymatically inactive, and bind to the cell wall of the host bacteria, the so-called CBDs (cell wall binding domains). The term endolysin refers also to lysostaphin and ALE-I which contain an endopeptidase domain and a CBD .

The term "module" as used herein refers to a subunit of an endolysin which is ascribed a specific function. Generally, a module is a relatively small functional unit like CHAP-, ami- or SH3- modules.

The term "domain" as used herein refers to a subunit of an endolysin which is ascribed a specific function and can also coincide with structural domains. The term domain is preferentially used to

describe the antagonism between EAD which can be composed of more than one module and CBD domains.

The term "CBD" as used herein refers to the cell wall binding domain or cell wall targeting domain of an endolysin, which is often found at the C-terminus of the protein. CBD domains have no enzymatic acitivity in terms of hydrolyzing the cell wall, but often mediate binding of the endolysin to the bacterial cell wall. CBD may contain an SH3 -domain.

The term "EAD" as used herein refers to the enzymatically active domain of an endolysin which is responsible for hydrolysis of the bacterial peptidoglycan. It contains at least one of the enzymatic activities of an endolysin. The EAD can also be composed of more than one enzymatically active module.

A "CHAP" domain (cysteine, histidine-dependent amidohydrolases/p_eptidases) is a region between 110 and 140 amino acids that is found in proteins from bacteria, bacteriphages, archaea and eukaryotes of the Trypanosomidae family. The proteins may function mainly in peptidoglycan hydrolysis. The CHAP domain is commonly associated with bacterial type SH3 domains and with several families of amidase domains. CHAP domain containing proteins may utilize a catalytic cysteine residue in a nucleophilic-attack mechanism. The CHAP domain contains two invariant amino acid residues, a cysteine and a histidine. These residues form part of the putative active site of CHAP domain containing proteins.

The term "ami" as used herein describes an enzymatically defined module which exhibits amidase activity, i.e. it hydrolyzes the amide bond between N-acetylmuramine in the peptidoglycan backbone and the adjacent amino acid which is usually L-ala in the peptide linker. The amidase are often metal ion dependent for activity.

The term "peptidase_M23" as used herein refers to a zinc-dependent metallopeptidase domain which cleaves glycyl-glycyl peptide bonds as an endopeptidase. Peptidase_M23 domains are found for example in lysostaphin and ALE-I .

The term "SH3" domain which is sometimes also called Src homology 3 domain as used herein describes a small non-catalytic protein domain of about 60 amino acids which is characteristic for proteins which interact with other binding partners. It is identified via a proline-rich

consensus motif. The SH3 domain is usually located within the CBD. SH3 domains found in peptidoglycan hydrolases are often of the SH3b or SH3_5 type.

The term "shuffling" as used herein refers to the combination of different fragments of polypeptides from different enzymes into new chimeric polypeptide constructs. In this context, the enzymes are preferentially endolysins, and the fragments are preferentially modules. Usually, the fragments are combined by molecular biological methods on nucleic acid level. Small linker sequences may be introduced between the fragments for structural or cloning reasons.

The term "wild-type" as used herein refers to a naturally occurring amino acid sequence of a protein or polypeptide or to a nucleotide sequence of a nucleic acid molecule encoding said protein or polypeptide.

The term "variant" as used herein refers to a modified form of a naturally occurring protein. Variants are generated by shuffling of polypeptides or mutations of polypeptides or addition of a tag or a marker or a combination of the different possibilities. Suitable mutations to generate a variant are deletions of amino acids, additions of amino acids or substitutions (amino acid exchanges, point mutations). The number of amino acids to be deleted, added or exchanged varies from 1 to several hundred. The respective modifications of the nucleic acids coding for the protein variants are determined by the genetic code.

The inventors isolated several lytic bacteriophages from sewage samples which were active against Staphylococci using standard techniques for bacteriophage isolation (Adams, 1959, In: Bacteriophages, Interscience Pub., New York, p. 447-451). Several lysogenic phages were identified using molecular biological techniques within Staphylococcus aureus strains isolated from epidemic strains.

One isolated phage was named pitti26. Within the phage genomes of the isolated lysogenic phages endolysin proteins were identified and isolated. One preferred endolysin was isolated from the lytic phage pitti26 and was named ply_pitti26 (SEQ ID NO:1). A further endolysin was identified within the lytic phage pitti20 and named ply_pitti20. A prophage derived endolysin, plyUSA, was identied in the genome of the prophage φSA2usa which was integrated into the genome of the meticillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus strain USA300 (Diep et al., The Lancet, 2006, 367, 731-739; databank entry NC_007793).

Endolysins of bacteriophages specific to Staphylococcus bacteria are typically composed of two enzymatically active domains, namely a CHAP domain, and an amidase domain (ami), and a cell binding domain (CBD) which often is defined as an SH3-domain of the SH3b or SH3_5 type.

Lysostaphin and ALE-I, a homologue of lysostaphin, are peptidoglycan hydrolases that specifically lyse Staphylococcus aureus cell walls as both proteins comprise an endopeptidase domain (peptidase_M23) which cleaves the pentaglycine linkages between peptidoglycan chains, and a C-terminal SH3b domain which functions as a CBD or targeting domain. Lysostaphin is secreted by Staphylococcus simulans biovar staphylolyticus, and ALE-I by Staphylococcus capitis EPKl. Lysostaphin is produced as a precursor protein which upon maturation loses tandem repeats at the N-terminus. ALE-I comprises an N-terminal repeat domain which is not processed post-translationally. The cell wall targeting domain of ALE-I was determined to consist of the 92 C-terminal amino acids (residues 271 to 362) (Lu et al., 2006, J. Biol. Chem., 281, 549-558). This domain is very similar to the C-terminal SH3b domain of lysostaphin (82 % identitiy).

The inventors of the present invention combined the CHAP and the amidase domain of the endolysin plypitti26 with the cell binding domain of the prophage endolysin plyUSA, with the cell binding domain of the endolysin plypitti20, the cell wall targeting domain of lysostaphin, and the cell wall targeting domain of ALE-I to generate chimeric endolysins having new properties for use of the endolysin variants as a therapeutic or prophylactic agent against staphylococcal infections, as an antimicrobial agent for desinfection or sanitation against Staphylococcus or as a means in Staphylococcus diagnostics. New properties are e. g. a higher activity of the chimeric endolysins in buffer systems, in therapeutically relevant solutions like blood or serum, an increased host range of recognition within the genus Staphylococcus or the species Staphylococcus aureus, preferably the MRSA strains, a higher solubility of the chimeric endolysins preferably after expression, and a higher protein stability preferably thermostability, long term stability or stability against proteases. The isolated endolysin plypitti26 as well as the chimeric enzymes can be used to lyse bacteria of the genus Staphylococcus.

hi one aspect the present invention relates to a polypeptide termed ply_pitti26 comprising the sequence as depicted in SEQ ID NO: 1.

In a further aspect the present invention relates to variants of this polypeptide termed ply_pitti26 comprising the sequence as depicted in SEQ ID NO:1. The following embodiments are considered to be variants of ply_pitti26:

a) polypeptides comprising a sequence in which the CBD of ply_pitti26 has been replaced by a CBD domain of another Staphlococci specific endolysin or lysostaphin or ALE-I, b) polypeptides comprising the sequence of ply_pitti26 except for at least the first N- terminal and at most the first 28 N-terminal amino acids of ply_pitti26, c) polypeptides comprising one or more point mutations or substitutions in the sequence ofply_pitti26, d) polypeptides comprising in addition to SEQ ID NO: 1 marker moieties, tags or other functional polypeptide sequences, and e) polypeptides comprising one or more additional amino acid residues inserted into the amino acid sequence according to SEQ ID NO: 1 f) any combinations of a), b), c), d) and e).

As mentioned above, the present invention relates to a polypeptide comprising the sequence of SEQ ID NO: 1 as well as variants thereof. Said polypeptide as well as variants thereof are considered to be the polypeptides according to the present invention. All of them share the common feature to function as an endolysin capable to lyse Staphylococcus bacteria. Said specificity for Staphylococci can be tested by a plurality of methods which are known in the art or described as set forth below, e.g. by adding the recombinant endolysin variant to a sample comprising one or more of said Staphylococcus species and determining the change in turbidity after addition of the (recombinant) endolysin.

In a preferred embodiment the variant of ply_pitti26 is a polypeptide wherein the CBD domain of the ply_pitti26 has been replaced by the CBD of another endolysin. In principle there is no restraint with regard to choosing other CBD domains from anti-staphylococcal endolysins as long as the resulting (recombinant) endolysin retains a specificity for Staphylococcus bacteria, in particular for S. aureus, S. aureus (MRSA), S. epidermidis, S. haemolyticus, S. simulans, S. saprophyticus, S. chromogenes, S. hyicus, S. warneri and/or S. xylosus. In a particularly preferred embodiment said recombinant endolysin comprises an endolysin cell binding domain of the SH3 type. Preferably, the CBD domains are selected from the endolysin CBD domains of

ply USA or ply_pitti20 or lysostaphin or ALE-I. As CBD of ply_USA in particular the sequence as denoted in SEQ ED NO: 3 is preferred. As CBD of ply_pitti20 in particular the sequence as denoted in SEQ ID NO: 5 is preferred. Examples for such recombinant endolysin variants of ply_pitti26 with exchanged CBD are given in SEQ ID NOs: 7 and 11.

In a further preferred embodiment the variant of ply_pitti26 comprises the sequence of ply_pitti 26 except for a certain number of N-terminal residues. The inventors of the present invention discovered, that if more than 28 N-terminal amino acid residues are removed from SEQ ED NO:1 then the endolysin activity is lost. Therefore, suitable variants of ply_pittii26 comprise in principle the sequence of SEQ ID NO:1 but lack 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 , 10, 11 , 12, 13 , 14, 15 , 16 ,17 ,18, 19, 20, 21 ,22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27 or 28 N-terminal amino acid residues of SEQ ID NO:1. Particularly preferred are variants which lack 4, 9 or 28 of the N-terminal amino acid residues of ply_pitti26.

In a preferred embodiment, the variants of the polypeptide termed ply_pitti26 exhibit single or multiple substitutions with regard to SEQ ED NO: 1. En particular, the sites to be substituted for other amino acid residues are F19, W22, W36, F42, Y44, L55, L56, F67, L74, Y78, W107, Yl 15, 1116, Yl 19, W123, W128, W137, W139, W154, E163, R167, E179, E189, Y200, Y275, Y276, C282, F300, C303 and/or W310. All positions are indicated with regard to SEQ ED NO: 1.

En an even more preferred embodiment hydrophobic amino acid residues such as F, W, Y, I, and L, especially the ones supposed to lie on the surface of the protein are exchanged against less hydrophobic amino acids such as R, D, E, N, K, Q, H, S, T, M, G, A, wherein A is particularly preferred. As hydrophobic proteins tend to aggregate said substitutions increase the solubility of the protein, . The potential surface exposure of amino acid residues can be predicted from a high resolution structure of the protein or from a model, if the structure of homologous proteins or moduls is known. Charged amino acids such as E, D and R, K are preferentially exchanged against uncharged amino acids (e.g. Q or A for E, N or A for D, A for R or K) as charged amino acids are often recognition sites for proteases. Cysteines are preferentially exchanged against A or S as cyteines tend to build disulfide bridges under oxidising conditions which is potentially deleterious for enzyme structure and function.

Particularly preferred are variations in the sequence of SEQ ED NO: 1 selected from the following group of mutations. All substitutions are given with regard to the position in

SEQ ID NO: 1 : W22R, F42A, Y44A L55H, L56T, F67T, Y115S, W123M, W137A, W139A,

W154H, E163Q, E163A, R167A, E179Q, E179A, E187Q, E189Q, Y200A , Y200H, Y275A , Y275M, Y276A , C282A , F300A, C303S, W310A and/or W310M. Said substitutions may be single mutants of SEQ ID NO: 1 or may be a combination of two or more of said substitutions. Preferred multiple mutants of SEQ ID NO:1 are selected form the group comprising the following multiple mutants: L55H + L56T, F67T + Y115S, F67T + W137A, F67T + W139A, F67T + W154H, Y115S + W137A, Y115S + W139A, E163Q + R167A, E163A + R167A, E163Q + R169A, E163A + R169A, E163Q + R167A + E189Q, E163A + R167A + E189Q, E163Q + R167A + Y200H, E163A + R167A + Y200H, E163Q + R167A + E179Q + E189Q, E163Q + R167A + E179A + E189Q, E163A + R167A + E179Q + E189Q, E163A + R167A + E179A + E189Q, Y200A + Y275A, Y200A + Y276A, Y200A + C282A, Y200A + F300A, Y275A + Y276A, Y275A + F300A, C282A + F300A, Y200A + Y275A + Y276A, Y275A + Y276A + F300A, L55H + L56T + E163Q + R167A + Y200H, L55H + L56T + E163A + R167A + Y200H, E163Q + R167A + E179A + E189Q + Y200H, E163A + R167A + E179A + E189Q + Y200H, L55H + L56T + E163Q + R167A + E179A + E189Q + Y200H, L55H + L56T + E163A + R167A + E179A + E189Q + Y200H, and S237L + R354Q + A367V, L55H + L56T + E163A + R167A + Y200H + S237L + R354Q + A367V and L55H + L56T + E163Q + R167A + Y200H + S237L + R354Q + A367V.

In a further preferred embodiment the variant of ply_pitti26 comprises additional marker moieties such as biotin or streptavidin or tags such as HA-tag (amino acid sequence EQKLISEEDL), His-tag (Nieba et al., 1997, Anal. Biochem., 252, 217-228), Strep-tag (Voss & Skerra, 1997, Protein Eng., 10, 975-982), Myc-tag (Evan et al., Mol&Cell Biol, 5, 3610-3616), GST-tag (Peng et al. 1993, Protein Expr. Purif, 412, 95-100), JS-tag (WO 2008/077397), cysteine tag (EP1399551) or other tags known in the art. Preferred other functional polypeptide sequences are for example protease cleavage sites. In some embodiments the above mentioned variants of ply_pitti26 may serve for facilitating the biotechnological production of ply_pitti26 or said variants.

In a further preferred embodiment the variant of ply_pitti26 comprises one or more additional amino acid residues. Preferably, the polypeptide according to the present invention comprises one, two, three or four additional amino acid residues, wherein the residues may be contiguous residues or they may be inserted into independent positions. Preferred is the addition of one or two, more preferred of one amino acid residue. Most preferred is the addition of one amino acid

residue after position one, preferably is the addition of the amino acid residue A. If one or more amino acid residues have been inserted into ply_pitti26 the position set forth above being preferred positions for amino acid substitutions have to be adjusted to the number and position of inserted amino acid residues. Exemplary, if an amino acid residue is inserted in position two the position F19 will be F20, W22 will be W23 and so on. If more then one amino acid residue is inserted the new positions have to be adjusted accordingly.

It has to be understood that the above illustrated variants of ply_pitti26 must not be considered as strictly separate embodiments but instead may be combined. For example, a variant of ply_pitti26 according to the present invention may comprise one or more of the variants selected from the group of a N-terminal truncation of SEQ ID NO:1, one or more substitutions as indicated above, the CBD domain of another endolysin, one or more amino acid additions as well as for example a His-tag with the proviso that such recombinant endolysin is still specific for staphylococci. The person skilled in the art will readily realize which of said variants is suitable for his purposes and can always test such variants for activity against staphylococci by routine methods in the art, for example by assaying the effect of lysis activity on the optical density of a staphylococci containing solution. Illustrative examples for such combinatorial variants are given in SEQ ID NO: 9 (ply_pitti26 with CBD of plyUSA and additional C-terminal His-tag) and SEQ ID NO: 13 (ρly_pitti26 with CBD of ply_pitti20 and additional C-terminal His-tag).

An illustrative example of a ply_pitti26 variant having a replaced CBD and further one amino acid addition at position two is given in SEQ ID NO:28 (ply_pitti26 with CBD of plyUSA and additional amino acid residue A at position two) designated EADplypitti26_CBDplyUSA-Add2.

Further illustrative examples of ply_pitti26 variants having a replaced CBD, one or more amino acid substitutions and further an additional amino acid residue at position two are described below. Particularly preferred is the polypeptide having an amino acid sequence according to SEQ ID NO: 15. Said polypeptide is derived from ply_pitti26 with the CDB of plyUSA as depicted in SEQ ID NO:7 having the following five single amino acid substitutions L56H, L57T, E164A, R168A and Y201H and one additional A2. The variant is named EADplypitti26_CBDplyUSA-Add2_M5. The annotation "_M5" stands for every construct comprising the particularly preferred combination of the five single amino acid substitutions L56H, L57T, E164A, R168A and Y201H within the EAD of ply_pitti26. The annotation "Add2"

stands for every construct comprising the additional single amino acid residue at position two of the EAD of ply_pitti26. Further particularly preferred is a variant combining the EAD of ply_pitti26 with the CBD of lysostaphin named EADplypitti26_CBDLS-Add2_M5 and having the amino acid sequence as depicted in SEQ ED NO.20 or the variant combining the EAD of ply_pitti26 with the CBD of ALE-I lysin named EADplypitti26_CBDALEl-Add2_M5 and having the amino acid sequence as depicted in SEQ ID NO.22.

Particularly preferred is in addition the polypeptide having the amino acid sequence according to SEQ ID NO: 18. Said polypeptide is derived from ply_pitti26 with the CDB of plyUSA as depicted in SEQ ID NO:7 having the following eight single amino acid substitutions L56H, L57T, E164A, R168A, Y201H, S238L, R355Q, and A368V and one additional A2. The variant is named EADplypitti26_CBDplyUSA-Add2_M8.

In another aspect the present invention relates to a nucleic acid molecule encoding one of the polypeptides of the invention. It is apparent to a person skilled in the art that there may be many ways of constructing nucleic acid molecules encoding for one of the polypeptides according to the present invention, for example in view of the degenerate genetic code. A person skilled in the art with knowledge about the amino acid sequence of the polypeptide of the present invention is capable of choosing an adequate nucleotide sequence which suits his purposes most, for example in which the codon usage has been adapted to the codon usage of his desired expression host. A nucleic acid molecule comprising a sequence encoding for a polypeptide of the invention is considered to be the nucleic acid or nucleotide sequence, respectively, of the present invention.

In a preferred embodiment said nucleic acid molecule encodes for the endolysin comprising the sequence of SEQ ID NO: 1. Preferably, said nucleic acid comprises the nucleotide sequence as depicted in SEQ ID NO: 2.

hi another preferred embodiment the polypeptide to be encoded is a variant of ply_pitti26, in particular a variant wherein the CBD domain is replaced by a CBD of another staphylococcal bacteriophage endolysin. Illustrative examples for nucleotide sequences encoding the CBD of plyUSA or ply_pitti20 or lysostaphin or ALE-I are given in SEQ ID NOs: 4 and 6, and 25 and 27 respectively. Further example illustrating nucleotide sequences of the present invention are given in SEQ ID NOs: 8 (encoding for ply_pitti26 with CBD of plyJJSA), 10 (encoding for ply_pitti26 with CBD of ply_USA plus additional C-terminal His-tag), 12 (encoding for

ply_pitti26 with CBD of ply_pitti20) and 14 (encoding for ply_pitti26 with CBD of ply_pitti20 plus additional C-terminal His-tag), respectively.

In a preferred embodiment the nucleic acid molecule encodes for the polypeptide comprising the sequence of SEQ ID NO: 15, namely EADplypitti26_CBDplyUSA-Add2_M5. Preferably, said nucleotide comprises the nucleotide sequence as depicted in SEQ ID NO: 16 and 17. SEQ ID NO: 16 is the nucleotide sequence isolated from the phage pitti26 and prophage φSA2usa, respectively, with modifications of those nucleotide codons which encode the amino acid residues which have been substituted, i.e. L56H, L57T, E164A, R168A and Y201H and with an inserted codon encoding the additional amino acid residue A2. SEQ ID NO: 17 is derived from SEQ ID NO: 16 but has been codon optimized for expression in E.coli K12. Further preferred embodiments are the nucleotide sequences SEQ ID NO: 19 which is codon optimized also, SEQ ID NO:21, and SEQ ID NO:23, encoding for the polypeptides according to the invention EADplypitti26_CBDplyUSA-Add2_M8, EADplypitti26_CBDLS-Add2_M5, and EADplypitti26_CBDALEl-Add2_M5, respectively.

In a further aspect the present invention relates to a vector comprising a nucleic acid sequence of the invention. Preferably, said vector provides for the expression of said polypeptide of the invention in a suitable host cell. Said host cell may be selected due to mere biotechnological reasons, e.g. yield, solubility, costs, etc. but may be also selected from a medical point of view, e.g. a non-pathological bacteria or yeast, human cells, if said cells are to be administered to a subject. Said vector may provide for the constitutive or inducible expression of said polypeptides according to the present invention.

In a further aspect of the present invention the above mentioned polypeptides and/or cells are employed in a method for the treatment or prophylaxis of Staphylococus infections in a subject, in particular for the treatment or prophylaxis of infections by S. aureus, S. aureus (MRSA), S. epidermidis, S. haemolyticus, S. simulans, S. saprophyticus, S. chromogenes, S. hyicus, S. warneri and/or S. xylosus. Said subject may be a human subject or an animal, in particular animals used in livestock farming and/or dairy farming such as cattle. Said method of treatment encompasses the application of said polypeptide of the present invention to the site of infection or site to be prophylactically treated against infection in a sufficient amount.

In particular said method of treatment may be for the treatment or prophylaxis of infections, in particular by Staphylococcus aureus, of the skin, of soft tissues, of bacteremia and/or endocarditis.

In a further preferred embodiment a polypeptide according to the present invention is employed in a method for the treatment of keratitis, in particular of keratitis caused by S. haemolyticus .

In a further preferred embodiment a polypeptide according to the present invention is used to treat or prevent endoplastitis, in particular endoplatitis caused by S. epidermidis.

In a further preferred embodiment a polypeptide according to the present invention is used to treat or prevent urinary tract infections, in particular endoplatitis caused by S. saprophyticus.

In a further preferred embodiment a polypeptide according to the present invention is used in a method of treatment (or prophylaxis) of staphylococcal infections in animals, in particular in livestock and dairy cattle. In particular a polypeptide of the present application is suitable for use in methods of treatment (or prophylaxis) of bovine mastitis, in particular of bovine mastitis caused by S. aureus, S. epidermidis, S. simulans, S. chromogenes, S. hyicus, S. warneri and S. xylosus.

Furthermore, a polypeptide of the present invention may be used prophylactically as sanitizing agent, in particular before or after surgery, or for example during hemodialysis. Similarly, premature infants and immunocompromised persons, or those subjects with need for prosthetic devices can be treated with a polypeptide of the present invention, either prophylactically or during acute infection. In the same context, nosocomial infections by Staphylococcus, in particular by S. aureus or S. aureus (MRSA), may be treated prophylactically or during acute phase with a polypeptide of the present invention, hi this embodiment, a polypeptide of the present invention may be used as a disinfectant also in combination with other ingredients useful in a disinfecting solution like detergents, tensids, solvents, antibiotics, lanthibiotics, or bacteriocins.

In a particularly preferred embodiment a polypeptide of the present invention is used for medical treatment, if the infection to be treated (or prevented) is caused by multiresistant Staphylococcus strains, in particular by strains resistant against vancomycin, linezolid or daptomycin.

Furthermore, a polypeptide of the present invention can be used in methods of treatment by administering them in combination with conventional antibacterial agents, such as antibiotics, lanthibiotics, bacteriocins other endolysins, etc.

The dosage and route of administration used in a method of treatment (or prophylaxis) according to the present invention depends on the specific disease/site of infection to be treated. The route of administration may be for example in particular embodiments oral, topical, nasopharyngeal, parenteral, intravenous, rectal or any other route of administration.

For application of a polypeptide of the present invention to a site of infection (or site endangered to be infected) a polypeptide of the present invention may be formulated in such manner that the endolysin is protected from environmental influences such as proteases, oxidation, immune response etc., until it reaches the site of infection.

Therefore, a polypeptide of the present invention may be formulated as capsule, dragee, pill, suppository, injectable solution or any other medical reasonable galenic formulation. In some embodiments these galenic formulation may comprise suitable carriers, stabilizers, flavourings, buffers or other suitable reagents.

For example, for topical application a polypeptide of the present invention may be administered by way of a lotion or plaster.

For nasopharyngeal application a polypeptide according to the present invention may be formulated in saline in order to be applied via a spray to the nose.

For treatment of the intestine, for example in bovine mastitis, suppository formulation can be envisioned. Alternatively, oral administration may be considered. In this case, the polypeptide of the present invention has to be protected from the harsh digestive environment until the site of infection is reached. This can be accomplished for example by using bacteria as carrier, which survive the initial steps of digestion in the stomach and which secret later on a polypeptide of the present invention into the intestinal environment.

All medical applications rely on the effect of the polypeptides of the present invention to lyse specifically and immediately staphylococcal bacteria when encountered. This has an immediate

impact on the health status of the treated subject by providing a reduction in pathogenic bacteria and bacterial load and simultaneously relieves the immune system. Thus, the major task a person skilled in the art faces is to formulate the polypeptides of the present invention accurately for the respective disease to be treated. For this purpose usually the same galenic formulation as employed for conventional medicaments for these applications can be used.

In a further aspect of the present invention the above mentioned polypeptides and/or cells are a component of a pharmaceutical composition, which optionally comprises a carrier substance.

In an even further aspect the polypeptides and/or cells are part of a cosmetics composition. As mentioned above, several staphylococcal species can cause irritations on environmentally exposed surfaces of the patient's body such as the skin. In order to prevent such irritations or in order to eliminate minor manifestations of said staphylococcal pathogens, special cosmetic preparations maybe employed, which comprise sufficient amounts of polypeptides of the present invention in order to lyse already existing or freshly settling Staphylococci.

In a further aspect the present invention relates to the use of said polypeptides according to the present invention in foodstuff, on food processing equipment, in food processing plants, on surfaces coming into contact with foodstuff such as shelves and food deposit areas and in all other situations, where staphylococcal bacteria can potentially infest food material.

A further aspect of the present invention relates to the use of said polypeptides according to the present invention in diagnostics of Staphylococcus. In this aspect the polypeptides according to the invention are used as a means to specifically lyse Staphylococcus bacteria. The lysis of the bacterial cells by the polypeptides according to the present invention may be supported by the addition of detergents like Triton X-100 or other additives which weaken the bacterial cell envelope like polymyxin B. Specific cell lysis is needed as an initial step for subsequent specific detection of Staphylococcus bacteria using nucleic acid based methods like PCR, nucleic acid hybridization or NASBA (Nucleic Acid Sequence Based Amplification), immunological methods like IMS, immunfluorescence or ELISA techniques, or other methods relying on the cellular content of the bacterial cells like enzymatic assays using proteins specific for Staphylococcus bacteria.

A further aspect of the present invention relates to a diagnostic kit comprising the polypeptide according to the present invention, detergents like Triton X-IOO or other additives which weaken the bacterial cell envelope like polymyxin B. The kit may contain furthermore means and substances for the detection like PCR means, means for nucleic acid hybridization or NASBA (Nucleic Acid Sequence Based Amplification), immunological methods like IMS, immunfluorescence or ELISA techniques, or other methods relying on the cellular content of the bacterial cells like enzymatic assays using proteins specific for Staphylococcus bacteria.

Examples

All cloning procedures were performed using standard techniques according to Sambrook et al. (Molecular cloning. A laboratory manual; 2nd ed. Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press 1989). Mutations and deletions were also introduced using standard techniques.

Example 1 : Cloning of the endolysins according to the invention

For EADplypitti26_CBDplyUSA, the nucleotide sequence of the CHAP-Ami2 domain was amplified from the lytic phage pitti26 (own isolate) and the CBD sequence was amplified from plyUSA. For EADplypitti26_CBDplypitti20, the CBD was derived from plypitti20 (own isolate). The fragments were combined by ligation, and cloned into the expression vector pET14b via the restriction sites Ncol and BamHI. In order to add a C-terminal His-tag to the sequence, the new construct was cloned into the expression vector pQE60 via the restriction sites Ncol and BamHI. This construct contains an additional sequence of Ser-Arg-Ser-(Hisό) at the C-terminus.

Example 2: Expression and solubility testing of the endolysins according to the invention

For expression of the cloned constructs E. coli HMS174(DE3) (pET14b construct) and E. coli Ml 5 (pQE construct) were used, respectively. Cells were grown in LB medium containing ampicillin and rifampicin (HMS174(DE3)) or ampicillin (Ml 5) at 30°C or 37 °C with shaking and induced with 1 mM IPTG at OD ₆ o _{0 n} m 0.4-0.6 (mid log phase). After shaking for further 3-4 hours the cells were harvested by centrifugation and frozen at -20°C.

For solubility testing, harvested cells were resuspended in lysis buffer (20 mM Tris/HCl pH 8.0, 5 mM EDTA), sonicated (2 x 30 sec) and centrifuged. The pellet was solved in exactly the same

volume of buffer as the supernatant. Identical sample volumes of pellet and supernatant fractions were analyzed with 12 % SDS-PAGE .

Whereas upon expression at 37 °C the solubility of recombinantly produced endolysins was generally poor, the solubility of EADplypitti26_CBDplyUS A was significantly higher than that of wild-type plypitti26 at 30 ⁰ C. Whereas almost all protein was found in the insoluble pellet fraction with plypitti26 , a soluble fraction of around 30 % to 40 % was found upon expression of EADplypitti26_CBDplyUSA . This holds similar for EADplypitti26_CBDplypitti20.

Example 3: Purification of the endolysins according to the invention

For the purification of the soluble His-tagged versions of the endolysin constructs according to the invention a Ni-NTA-Sepharose column (Amersham) was used according to the manufacturer's instructions. The cell pellet was resuspended in equilibration buffer (25 mM Tris/HCl pH 8.0, 500 mM NaCl, 20 mM imidazole, 0.1 % Tween 20, 10 % glycerol), centrifuged and added to the column equilibrated with the same buffer. Elution of the protein was carried out in elution buffer (25 mM Tris/HCl pH 8.0, 500 mM imidazole, 0.1 % Tween 20, 10 % glycerol), and the eluted fractions were analyzed with SDS-PAGE. The combined fractions containing purified endolysins were dialyzed against storage buffer (20 mM Tris/HCl pH 7.5, 10 mM DTE, 0.1 mM ZnSO ₄ ) and stored at -20°C.

The purification of the soluble version of the endolysins according to the invention without His- tag followed standard purification procedures with anion exchange chromatography, size exclusion chromatography and hydrophobic chromatography using for example Streamline HST, Superdex, and HiTrap Capto MMC columns (GE Healthcare).

The amount of active endolysin can be increased if insoluble endolysin material deposited in inclusion bodies (pellet fraction of example 2) is solubilized under denaturing conditions and subsequently refolded. The amount of protein deposited in inclusion bodies can be increased by increasing expression temperature to 37 °C, for example. Suitable conditions for solubilization and refolding are described for example in Navarre et al., 1999, J. Biol. Chem. 274, 15847- 15856.

Example 4: Agar plate activity assay

An overnight culture of a staphylococcus strain which was growing for about 18 hours at 37°C in Brain Heart Infusion medium (Oxoid), was collected by centrifugation, the cell pellet was resuspended in Ix DPBS (Merck) thereby reducing the original volume by a factor of 100 and heat inactivated at 80°C for 20 minutes. The cells were sonicated and solved in LB topagar inclulding ampicillin and IPTG (0.7 % agar (Bacto); 100 μg/ml ampicillin (Sigma); 1 mM IPTG (Roth)), and used for the preparation of "lysis plates". These plates can be overlayed with protein solutions or solutions of E. coli harbouring plasmids which code for the desired proteins. A lysis zone on the plate is visible if the lytic protein is active respectively is expressed at least partly in soluble and active form.

The agar plate assay was used to test the lysis activity of εADplypitti26_CBDplyUSA in comparison with the wild-type form of pitti26 using different coagulase positive {Staphylococcus aureus) and coagulase negative (e. g. S. epidermidis, S. haemolyticus, S. saprophyticus, S. simulans) Staphylococcus strains. This was done in an agar plate lysis assay. Concentrated heat inactivated (e. g. 20 min at 80 ⁰ C) Staphylococcus cells are fixed in a top agar layer in a way that a dense bacterial lawn is achieved. Either isolated endolysin solution (5 μl to 10 μl) or E. coli transformants harbouring the respective endolysin containing plasmids are stippled onto the surface of the top agar layer. The plates are incubated at 30 °C for several hours (1 h to 12 h), and then checked for lysis zones around the endolysin spots. Normally, an increase in the lysis zone diameter also coincides with a clearing of the lysis zone indicating more efficient cell lysis. The results are depicted in table 1.

Table 1: Host range for lysis by EADplypitti26_CBDplyUSA and plypitti26

Table 1 depicts the host range for the EADplypitti26_CBDplyUSA compared to the wild-type endolysin Pitti26. Lysis activity on different staphylococcus strains was tested with the agar plate activity assay. Strong (+++), medium (++), weak (+) and no (-) lysis are defined as described in the legend of Fig. 2. The first column depicts the strain number corresponding to the PROFOS culture collection. The second column mentions the origin of the respective strain. "Clinical isolate" means a strain isolated from a patient with diagnosed staphylococcal infection. DSMZ numbers represent strains that can be ordered from the "Deutsche Sammlung fur Mikroorganismen und Zellkulturen" (Braunschweig) the remaining being own isolates from our laboratory. The lysis assay demonstrated that the activity of EADplypitti26_CBDplyUSA is often better than the activity of the wild-type enzyme plypitti26, especially on the coagulase negative non S. aureus strains. This means also that EADplypitti26_CBDplyUSA has a broader host range compared to plypitti26. Coagulase negative staphylococci (species other than Staphylococcus aureus) are involved in infections in weakened and immune compromised persons, cause problems in biofilm formation in persons wearing indwelling devices or other implants, and are involved in mastitis. S. saprophyticus causes special problems in urinary tract infections.

Example 5: Turbidity assay to control lysis activity

The second activity test we use for endolysin function is a turbidity test, where lysis of bacterial cells is measured "online" in a photometer. The absorption at 600 nm is a measure for the density of the cell culture and decreases upon cell lysis when the sample also becomes visibly

clear. In contrast to the agar plate assay described above, this assay uses non-heat-treated bacterial cells, and is therefore more stringent and closer to reality in medical applications. Lysis of bacteria by the phage endolysins results in a drop of optical density (OD) which is measured by the turbidity assay. Target bacteria were grown in Brain Heart Infusion (Oxoid) until an OD _6O0 of around 0.8 is reached (exponential phase). The cells were harvested and resuspended in TBST buffer (20 mM Tris/HCl pH 7.5, 60 rnM NaCl, 0.1 % Tween) plus 2 mM CaCl ₂ to an

OD ₆₀ O of 1. Small volumes of concentrated endolysin solutions are added to final protein concentrations as indicated in the figures. Changes in OD ₆₀₀ were followed at 30 °C in a sample volume of 1 ml in a photometer (Jasco) until a stable baseline is reached. The addition of the test proteins occurred without interruption of the measurement.

Different concentrations of isolated plypitti26 and EADplypitti26_CBDplyUSA endolysin were tested on Staphylococcus aureus cells.. EADplypitti26_CBDplyUSA generally showed higher activity at the same protein concentration than plypitti26 , again indicating superior properties compared to the naturally occurring endolysin. With respect to the relatively low protein concentrations used in the assay, complete lysis (indicated by no residual absorption) is achieved in a very short time spam of several minutes with EADplypitti26_CBDplyUSA. The test was also performed with protein concentrations as low as 1 μg, 0.5 μg and even 0.2 μg, resulting also in complete lysis over a longer period of time. The resulting specific activity, defined as δOD ₆₀ o per mg protein and minute, was calculated for EADplypitti26_CBDplyUSA as a value of ca. 50 units. Comparing this specific activity with state of the art full-length and truncated versions of phil l endolysin, which are between 0.8 and 1.5 units (Donovan et al., 2006, FEMS Microbiol. Lett, 265, 133-139; ), EADplypitti26_CBDplyUSA turns out to be an extremely efficient staphylococcal endolysin. Even plypitti26 is significantly better than the phil 1 endolysin.

Example 6: Activity assay in human blood serum

The activity of EADplypitti26_CBDplyUSA in blood serum was tested with the photometric turbidity assay according to example 5. Log phase S. aureus cells were resuspended in blood serum and subsequently lysis assays with different concentrations of EADplypitti26_CBDplyUSA were performed. This assay allows a direct measuring of lysis of S. aureus cells in human blood serum . For efficient lysis in serum around lOfold the amount of

protein is required in comparison to lysis in osmolytically optimized lysis buffer . In addition, the kinetics of lysis are slower in blood serum than in buffer.

The activity of EADplypitti26_CBDplyUSA was tested in human blood serum. It could be demonstrated that EADplypitti26_CBDplyUSA is also an efficient lysin on S. aureus cells under conditions existent in human plasma, albeit a somewhat higher protein concentration is needed than under optimized standard assay conditions, and the lysis is somewhat slower .

Example 7: Stability during long term incubation at room temperature

The stability of EADplypitti26_CBDplyUSA in comparison to plypitti26 was tested after incubation in storage buffer (20 mM Tris/HCl pH 7.5, 10 mM DTE, 0.1 mM ZnSO ₄ ) at 25 °C for up to one week. Degradation of the proteins was monitored by SDS-PAGE and in turbidity assays. Whereas EADplypitti26_CBDplyUSA was stable over the whole time period tested as no changes were observed , plypitti26 was obviously degraded at incubation times longer than 9 hours, and no full-lenth protein was visible after 120 h of incubation, but protein bands corresponding to smaller fragments became visible.

Remaining activity of the tested proteins was recorded using the turbidity assay under standard conditions (see example 5). In accordance with the stability data obtained by SDS-PAGE, EADplypitti26_CBDplyUSA shows a slower decrease in activity in comparison to plypitti26. EADplypitti26_CBDplyUSA remains fully active for a long time, whereas the activity of the plypitti26 drops significantly already after 4 hours.

This correlated with the decrease in activity, suggesting that only full-length endolysins were enzymatically active under these conditions. The experiment demonstrated, that especially EADplypitti26_CBDplyUSA is stable for reasonable periods of time even at room temperature. The stability extends a lot when the proteins are stored at lower temperatures, e.g. at 4 °C in a refrigerator or at temperatures of- 20 °C or - 80 °C in a deep freezer.

Example 8: Protease stability against thrombin and V8 protease

For the protease stability assay 50μg thrombin were incubated over night at 25 °C with the respective proteins at a final concentration of 1.1 mg/ml. The incubation buffer was 20 mM

Tris/HCl pH 7.5, 10 mM DTE, 0.1 mM ZnSO ₄ . On the next day, the protein samples were analyzed on SDS-gels and in the turbidity assay. Whereas only a small amount of EADplypitti26_CBDplyUSA is degraded during the time of the assay, no full-length protein of plypitti26 is left under the same conditions . This means that EADplypitti26_CBDplyUSA is still highly active after incubation with thrombin whereas plypitti26 loses its activity completely . EADplypitti26_CBDplyUSA exhibits thrombin resistance as a property which renders it helpful for application in wounds or intravenous.

Protease stability against V8 protease was tested incubating endolysin (concentration 0.2 mg/ml) and V8 protease (1 μg/ml) in the following buffer: 20 mM Tris/HCl, 100 mM NaCl, pH 8,0 at 25 °C over night.. On the next day, the protein samples were analyzed on SDS-gels and in the turbidity assay.

Example 9: Stability in human blood

Activity was measured with the turbidity assay (example 5) after preincubation of EADplypitti26_CBDplyUSA at 37 °C for the times indicated in either storage buffer (20 mM Tris/HCl pH 7.5, 10 mM DTE, 0.1 mM ZnSO ₄ ) or human EDTA-blood. Human blood samples are centrifuged to sediment red blood cells at the times indicated, and 100 μl of protein solution from the supernatant are added to start the turbidity assay. Up to 2 h of incubation time, there is almost identical activity measured after preincubation in buffer and in blood. EADplypitti26_CBDplyUSA is inactivated almost completely after 4 h incubation in blood at 37 °C, whereas there is 80 % residual activity measured with the control incubation.

Example 10: Modified endolysins

We have generated several modified chimeric endolysins starting from the sequences of EADplypitti26_CBDplyUSA, EADplypitti26_CBDplypitti20, EADplypitti26_CBDALEl, and EADplypitti26_CBDLS. .

N-terminal truncations

Several N-terminally truncated forms of EADplypitti26_CBDplyUSA were constructed and tested for activity in the agar plate assay. Two constructs that were N-terminally shortened by 4

and 9 amino acids, respectively, exhibited lytic activity in the plating assay, whereas a construct that was shortened by 29 amino acids did not exhibit activity any more.

Site directed mutagenesis

In order to further stabilize and solubilize plypitti26, EADplypitti26_CBDplyUSA, EADplypitti26_CBDplypitti20, EADplypitti26_CBDALEl, and EADplypitti26_CBDLS, site directed mutations at selected positions within the amino acid sequence were performed using specific primers for single amino acid substitutions, and the activity of the respective mutants was tested using the agar plate activity assay. We substituted hydrophobic amino acids (F, W, Y, I, L) against the less hydrophobic amino acids R, D, E, N, K, Q, H, S, T, M, G, A by standard site directed mutagenesis methods. The charged amino acids E and R were preferentially exchanged against uncharged amino acids (Q or A for E, A for R). The C were preferentially exchanged against A or S. The substitutions as listed in table 2 turned out to maintain the activity or to improve the properties of the endolysin as a therapeutic, diagnostic and prophylactic agent against staphylococcal infections.

Table 2: Modified endolysins exhibiting single amino acid mutations in plypitti26, EADplypitti26_CBDplyUSA, EADplypitti26_CBDplypitti20, EADplypitti26_CBDALEl, and EADplypitti26_CBDLS showing lytic activity against staphylococci. It has to be understood that the numbers of the single amino acid mutations change if they are present in a plypitti26 variant with an amino acid addition, e.g. in a variant with an additional A at position 2 like the preferred embodiments EADplyρitti26_CBDLS-Add2_M5, EADplypitti26_CBDplyUSA-Add2_M5, EADplypitti26_CBDALEl-Add2_M5 or EADplypitti26_CBDplyUSA-Add2_M8.

Example 11: Comparison of lysis activity in buffer of different lysis proteins against Staphylococcus aureus cells The assay was performed according to the protocol "turbidity assay to control lysis activity" described in example 5. The specific activity (δA _6O o /min mg) was calculated from the initial slopes of the lysis curves where the decrease in absorbance was almost linear. The assay was performed using lysis protein concentrations of 1 μg/ml and 10 μg/ml. It is seen that the specific activities are generally lower at a concentration of 10 μg/ml protein as the decrease in absorbance (AA ₆₀₀ /min) measured has no linear correlation with the protein concentration. The following order of lysis activity in buffer resulted from the experiment: EADplypitti26_CBDLS- Add2_M5 better than EADplypitti 26_CBDplyUSA-Add2_M8 better than EADplypitti26_CBDALEl-Add2_M5 better than EADplypitti26_CBDplyUSA-Add2_M5 better than EADplypitti26_CBDplyUSA better than plypitti26 better than lysostaphin. Lysostaphin has the weakest performance in this assay, and plypitti26 the second weakest. Surprisingly however, a combination or the EAD of plypitti26 and the CBD of lysostaphin - EADplypitti26_CBDLS- Add2_M5 - shows the second best performance. This is also reflected in the variant EADplypitti26_CBDALEl-Add2_M5, as ALEl lysin is very similar to lysostaphin. The plypitti26 variants EADplypitti26_CBDplyUSA and EADplypitti26_CBDplyUSA-Add2_M5 show better lysis activity than plypitti26.

Example 12: Comparison of lysis activity in human blood serum of different lysis proteins against Staphylococcus aureus cells

The assay was performed according to the protocol "activity assay in human blood serum" described in example 6. The specific activity (δA _6O o /min mg) was calculated from the initial slopes of the lysis curves where the decrease in absorbance was almost linear. The assay was

performed using lysis protein concentrations of 10 μg/ml and 25 μg/ml. It is seen that the specific activities are somewhat lower at a concentration of 25 μg/ml protein as the decrease in absorbance (δA ₆ oo /min) measured has no linear correlation with the protein concentration. The following order of lysis activity in human blood serum resulted from the experiment using 10 μg/ml lysis protein: EADplypitti26_CBDLS-Add2_M5 better than

EADplypitti26_CBDplyUSA-Add2_M5 better than EADplypitti26_CBDALEl-Add2_M5 better than EADplypitti26_CBDρlyUSA better than EADplypitti26_CBDplyUSA-Add2_M8. It turned out, that lysis efficiency of the different endolysin constructs in human blood serum is different from that measured in buffer. Endolysin plypitti26 exhibited no lytic activity on Stapylococcus aureus cells in human blood serum, but seems to be inhibited by an unknown factor. The modified variants of plypitti26 exhibiting the CBD of plyUSA, namely EADplypitti26_CBDplyUSA and EADplypitti26_CBDplyUSA-Add2_M5 and

EADplypitti26_CBDplyUSA-Add2_M8 show specific lysis activities in human blood serum better than plypitti26. The construct EADplypitti26_CBDLS-Add2_M5 using the CBD of lysostaphin shows the best specific lysis activity in human blood serum although the lysis activity in buffer of lysostaphin was very poor. The construct EADplypitti26_CBD ALEl- Add2_M5 using the CBD of ALE-I lysin shows the third best specific lysis activity in human blood serum.

Example 13: Thermal stability assay

The thermal stability of the Staphylococcus endolysins was measured in a thermostability assay measuring aggregation of the protein at a wavelength of 360 run in a photometer. The proteins (concentration 0.1 mg/ml) were dissolved in a buffer containing 20 raM Hepes, 10 mM CaCl ₂ , 50 mM arginin, pH 7.5. A cuvette containing the buffered protein solution was put in a photometer and heated in steps of 1 ⁰ C per minute. The absorbance at 360 nm (A ₃₆₀ ) was measured between room temperature and around 65 ⁰ C. Without protein denaturation, the A ₃₆₀ signal shows only a slight slope, but beginning from a specific temperature, the aggregation temperature T _aggr , the absorption line begins to rise and describes kind of a peak. This signal change coincides with aggregation and concomitant inactivation of the protein. Thus, the aggregation temperature T _aggr observed is a measure for the thermal stability of the protein. A comparison of the T _aggr for different Staphylococcus endolysin variant is given in table 3.

Table 3:

Protein T _aggr , °C

ply_pitti26 50

EADplypitti26_CBDplyUSA 55

EADplypitti26_CBDplyUSA-Add2_M5 55

EADplypitti26_CBDplyUSA-Add2_M8 55

EADplypitti26_CBDLS-Add2_M5 56

E ADplypitti26_CBD ALE 1 - Add2_M5 51

It turned out that ply_pitti26 is the least stable enzyme measured in this experiment. The exchange of the CBD of ply_pitti26 for the CBD from plyUSA or from lysostaphin increases the stability by 5 °C. EADplypitti26_CBDLS-Add2_M5 is the most stable endolysin with a T _aggr of 56 °C, followed by EADplypitti26_CBDplyUSA-Add2_M5, EADplypitti26_CBDplyUSA, and EADplypitti26_CBDplyUSA-Add2_M8 exhibiting T _aggr of 55 °C, each. The exchange of the CBD of ply_pitti26 for the CBD from ALE-I lysin results only in a marginal stabilisation of 1 ⁰ C.

Example 14: Characterisation of plypitti26 and variants thereof with respect to advantageous properties for use as a therapeutic, diagnostic and prophylactic agent against staphylococcal infections.

Different chimaeric endolysins derived from plypitti26, and modified proteins exhibiting up to 7 single amino acid mutations were compared with respect to different properties concerning activity and stability of the endolysins. Protease resistance was tested according to the protocol described in example 8, lysis activity in buffer and serum according to examples 5 and 6, respectively, the host range was determined in the agar plate assay (example 4), and the stability during long term incubation with the assay described in example 7. The results are summarised in a semiquantitative manner in table 4.

Table 4: Comparison of properties of different protein variants of Staphylococcus endolysm ply_pitti26 for a use according to the invention

M M property measured in the respective assay very good compared with the other endolysin constructs measured ++ property measured in the respective assay good compared with the other endolysin constructs measured + property measured in the respective assay less pronounced compared with the other endolysin constructs measured - property not measurable under the conditions used in the respective assay compared with the other endolysin constructs measured n d property not determined with the respective endolysin construct

All of the variants of plypitti26 constructed as described in this invention show advantages over the naturally occurring endolysin in stability or activity or both. The variants exhibiting the mutations E164A (or E163A in EADpitti26_CBDUSA) and R168A (or R167A in EADpitti26_CBDUSA), but also the chimaeric constructs EADpitti26_CBDUSA, EADpitti26_CBDUSA-Add2 and EADpitti26_CBDpitti20 show better resistance to thrombin than plypitti26. In the variants EADpitti26_CBDUSA-Add2_M5 (L56H, L57T, E164A, R168A, Y201H) and EADpitti26_CBDUSA-Add2 (L56H, L57T, E164A, R168A, E180A, E190Q, Y201H) and to a lower degree in the variants EADpitti26_CBDUSA, EADpitti26_CBDUSA- Add2 and EADpitti26_CBDpitti20 this is also pronounced when testing the residual endolysin activity after thrombin digestion. This shows that two strategies lead to an improved resistance against proteases. First, the mutations of residues involved in the substrate recognition of the proteases, (in this case single amio acid substitutions like Rl 68Q) and second, a change in the overall conformation of the protein in the was that the accessibility of the digestion site for the protease is probably reduced (in the case the construction of chimaeric constructs by the exchange of CBDs). The lysis activity against Staphylococcus cells was superior to plypitti26 in the variant EADpitti26_CBDUSA-Add2 (L56H, L57T) and especially in the variants EAD _P itti26_CBDUSA-Add2, EADpitti26_CBDUSA-Add2 (E 164 A, Rl 68 A, El 8OA, E 190Q, Y201H), EADpitti26_CBDUSA-Add2 (L56H, L57T, E164A, R168A, Y201H) and EADpitti26_CBDUSA-Add2 (L56H, L57T, E164A, R168A, E180A, E190Q, Y201H). The variants EADpitti26_CBDUSA-Add2 (L56H, L57T, E164A, R168A, Y201H) and EADpitti26_CBDUSA-Add2 (L56H, L57T, E164A, R168A, E180A, E190Q, Y201H) also show a very good to good lysis activity in human blood serum.. It turned out that especially the mutations L56H, L57T, and Y201H are beneficial for the lysis activity of the protein. The host range of the plypitti26 variants was tested using 67 strains of the genus Staphylococcus, 32 strains of Staphylococcus aureus, and 12 Staphylococcus aureus MRSA strains. A very good sensitivity with respect to host range (+++) means the lysis of more than 80 % of the Staphylococcus strains, more than 90 % of the Staphylococcus aureus strains, and more than 75 % of the Staphylococcus aureus MRSA strains, Almost all variants show a very good host range sensitivity towards Staphylococcus cells. Plypitti26 host range sensitivity is slightly reduced, and the sensitivity of the chimaeric construct EADpitti26_CBDpitti20 is weaker towards cells from the genus Staphylococcus, and MRSA strains. Long term stability at room temperature was improved in all the variants tested compared to plypitti26. Especially preferred with respect to storage stability are the variants EADpitti26_CBDUSA, EADpitti26_CBDUSA-Add2 (L56H, L57T) and EADpitti26_CBDUSA-Add2 (L56H, L57T, E164A, R168A, E180A, E190Q,

Y201H). The mutations L56H and L57T have a positive effect on stability and solubility of plypitti26. In summary, all the variants presented show advantages over the naturally existing endolysin plypitti26. Especially preferred are the variants EADpitti26_CBDUSA-Add2 (L56H, L57T, E164A, R168A, Y201H) and EADpitti26_CBDUSA-Add2 (L56H, L57T, E164A, R168A, El 8OA, E190Q, Y201H) which show the best performance over all properties tested.

Example 15: Immunogenicity study

For a use of of the endolysins as a therapeutic or prophylactic agent against staphylococcal infections, the immunogenicity of the proteins has to be tested in an animal model in order to get information about the immune response of the organisms elicited by the foreign proteins. 10 female Balb/c mice per group were used as an animal model for the immunogenicity study for IV-therapy. The plypitti26 endolysin variant EADplypitti26_CBDplyUSA-Add2_M5 was applied with a slow, low pressure IV bolus injection in formulation buffer (25 mM Tris pH 7.5, 10 mM citrate, 10 mM CaCl ₂ , 300 mM arginine) at t=0 h, 24 h and 48 h for the three groups at a dosis of 15 mg/kg body weight. Endpoint serum withdrawal was after 2 or 4 or 8 weeks for the three groups, respectively. 3 mice in each group achieved medication with buffer without endolysin as a control. 3 female Balb/c mice per group were used as an animal model for the control immunogenicity study for IP-injection. Here, the plypitti26 endolysin variant EADplypitti26_CBDplyUSA-Add2_M5 was applied with IP injection with aduivans water/oil emulsion at t=0 h, 14 days and 28 days for the three groups at a dosis of 15 mg/kg body weight. Endpoint serum withdrawal was after 10 or 21 or 35 days for the three groups, respectively. The degree of immunogenicity was tested in an ELISA assay using EADplypitti26_CBDplyUSA- Add2_M5 coupled to microtiter plates and colorimetric signal detection using a secondary antibody against the diverse groups of antibodies resulting in the immune response. The results for the IV and IP injection are given in tables 5 and 6. Depicted is the lowest antibody titer which still gives a signal significantly below the background signal which was derived from the controls.

Table 5: Antibody titers after IV injection of EADplypitti26_CBDplyUSA-Add2_M5

8 I 6400 6400 25000 6400 6400 I

Table 6: Antibody titers after IP injection of EADplypitti26_CBDplyUSA-Add2_M5

It is seen that antibody titers were low after IV injection of EADplypitti26_CBDplyUSA- Add2_M5 compared to IP injection which was used as a control for a strong immune response.

Example 16: Neutralisation of the activity of EADplypitti26_CBDplyUSA-Add2_M5 by mouse antisera

In order to test whether the antibodies built during the immune response after IV injection against EADplypitti26_CBDplyUSA-Add2_M5 are able to neutralize the activity of the endolysin, the lysis activity against a staphylococcal cell wall preparation was tested in a microtiter plate turbidity assay. EADplypitti26_CBDplyUSA-Add2_M5 (0.1 mg/ml) in buffer 20 mM Hepes, 150 mM NaCl, pH 7.4 was incubated for 1 h at 30 °C with serial dilutions (dilution factors of 0, 0.5, 0.2, 0.1, 0.05, 0.1, 0.05, 0.01, 0.001, 0.0001) of mice antisera generated 4 and 8 weeks after FV injection according to the protocol described in example 15. 10 μl of the incubated solutions of the different serial dilutions were mixed with 190 ml staphylococcal cell wall preparation, and the decrease in absorption at 620 nm measured over time starting from an A ₆₂₀ of ca. 2.0. The time needed for a decrease in absorption of AA ₆₂₀ = 0.1 is a measure for the activity of the endolysin. The activites measured for samples after addition of preimmune sera at the respective dilutions served as controls for activity. The activity values presented in table 7 represent mean values derived from the sera of the 7 mice each IV-injected with EADplypitti26_CBDplyUSA-Add2_M5 as described in example 15.

Table 7: Endolysin activity against staphylococcal cell wall preparations after neutralisation with sera derived from IV injection with EADplypitti26_CBDplyUSA-Add2_M5

The activity assay shows that the staphylococcal endolysin variant according to the invention EADplypitti26_CBDplyUSA-Add2_M5 is not inactivated by the antibodies generated after IV injection to a significant level. On the contrary, a slight activation of the endolysin activity is observed after addition of antisera in most of the samples. Thus, the antibodies generated during the immune response after FV injection are not able to neutralise the endolysin activity of EADplypitti26_CBDplyUSA-Add2_M5 to a significant degree.

Example 17: High dose toxicity of the staphylococcal endolysin variant EADplypitti26_CBDplyUSA-Add2_M5 in mice

In order to test the potential toxicity of EADplypitti26_CBDplyUSA-Add2_M5, 10 healthy female CFWl mice were IV bolus injected with a dosis of 100 mg endolysin per kg body weight. Injection was repeated after time periods of 1 h, 6 h, and 22 h. The injection volume was 0.2 ml each in buffer 20 mM Tris, 10 mM CaCl ₂ , 10 mM citrate, 300 mM arginine, pH 7.5. The mice were controlled for clinical signs, body weight, and lethality daily during the next 5 days. In none of the mice tested, there was a loss of body weight or other clinical signs like fever or tremor during the next five days indicating that even a high dose of the staphylococcal endolysin variant EADplypitti26_CBDplyUSA-Add2_M5 was not toxic for healthy mice after repeated IV injection. From the animal model, the staphylococcal endolysin variant EADplypitti26_CBDplyUSA-Add2_M5 appears to be applicable for therapy or prevention of staphylococcal infections without toxic effects.

Example 18: Pharmacokinetic study using the staphylococcal endolysin variant EADplypitti26_CBDplyUSA-Add2_M5

A pharmacokinetic study in rats was performed in order to determine the half-life of EADplypitti26_CBDplyUSA-Add2_M5 in a living organism. 24 male sprague dawley (CD) rats were inoculated IV into the leg vein with a dosis of 12 mg endolysin per kg body weight. EADplypitti26_CBDplyUSA_M5 was dissolved in buffer 20 mM Tris, 10 mM CaCl ₂ , 10 mM citrate, 300 mM arginine, pH 7.5. 3 animals each were killed 5 min, 15 min, 30 min, 60 min, 120 min, 240 min or 480 min after IV injection. 3 animals of the control group received only buffer for injection. After killing, blood samples were taken immediately, serum prepared, and freezed in liquid nitrogen. In addition, the organs heart, kidney, liver, spleen and lung were prepared and also freezed in liquid nitrogen. The residual activity of the endolysin variant EADplypitti26_CBDplyUSA-Add2_M5 was determined in a turbidity assay performed in a microliter plate format. 20 μl serum was mixed with 200 μl staphylococcal cell wall preparation which had an absorption at 620 nm of A ₆₂₀ = 2.0. The time needed for the decrease of A ₆₂₀ of 0.1 (δA ₆₂₀ = 0.1) was taken as a measure for the activity of the endolysin. As controls, the activity of respective concentrations (150 μg/ml) of EADplypitti26_CBDplyUSA-Add2_M5 endolysin in buffer and pre-immune serum were measured. A second assay for determination of the half-life of EADplypitti26_CBDplyUSA-Add2_M5 endolysin was a Western-blot analysis of the protein using polyclonal anti EADplypitti26_CBDplyUSA-Add2_M5 endolysin rabbit antiserum in a dilution of 1: 10 ⁵ and an alkaline phosphatase goat anti -rabbit IgG conjugate as secondary antibody. This Western-blot analysis was also used for the organ extracts, which were prepared by homogenisation of the thawed organs using glass beads and spatula. Organ extracts, blood and serum samples were applied to SDS-polyacrylamide gels, and the separated polypeptide bands blotted to PVDF membranes and developed using the antibodies described. From the activity assay described the half-life of the variant EADplypitti26_CBDplyUSA- Add2_M5 after IV injection in rat was about 60 min. 2 h after application there was almost no residual activity measurable. A comparison of the first sample taken after 5 minutes to the activity of the protein in pre-immune serum and formulation buffer showed that there is almost no loss of activity directy after application, which could be due to adsorption of the protein to blood cells or epithelial cells of the blood vessels. From the Western blot assay which was also performed in samples taken from the different organs, it became evident that the disappearance of the protein band for EADplypitti26_CBDplyUSA-Add2_M5 coincided with the loss of

activity. Very similar pharmacokinetics were observed in blood, serum and the organs examined suggesting that clearance of the protein is similar in different parts of the body. The only difference observed was that the endolysin was visible as the full-length form in blood, serum, heart, lung, liver, and spleen samples, whereas fragments of the protein were detected at all time points in the kidney sample. The endolysin variant EADplypitti26_CBDplyUSA-Add2_M5 seems to be digested in rat kidney by proteases present in that organ. The pharmacokinetic study identified the staphylococcal endolysin variant EADplypitti26_CBDplyUSA-Add2_M5 as a potential pharmaceutical agent suitable for use in therapy and prevention of staphylococcal infections.

Example 19: Efficacy study of endolysin EADpitti26_CBDUSA-Add2_M5 after systemic infection of mice with Staphylococcus aureus cells

In order to test the efficacy of endolysin EADpitti26_CBDUSA-Add2_M5 as a therapeutic agent against Staphylococcus infections, mice were IV infected with Staphylococcus aureus cells, and the IV treatment with endolysin EADpitti26_CBDUSA-Add2_M5 was compared with other treatments with respect to survival of the test animals. 48 female healthy CFWl mice were IV inoculated with 2 x 10 ⁸ Staphylococcus aureus cells of the strain DSMZ 11823 per mouse. The mice were divided into 7 groups a 6 animals. The first three groups of mice were treated with high (100 mg protein per kg body weight), medium (25 mg protein per kg body weight), or low (5 mg protein per kg body weight) dosages of endolysin EADpitti26_CBDUSA-AAd2_M5 which were given in three IV injections 1 h, 6 h, and 22 h post infection. One group of mice received the same injections of formulation buffer (20 mM Tris, 10 mM CaCl ₂ , 10 mM citrate, 300 mM arginine, pH 7.5). Three groups of mice were treated with high (20 mg protein per kg body weight), medium (5 mg protein per kg body weight), or low (1,25 mg protein per kg body weight) dosages of the antibiotic vancomycin. One group of mice did not receive any treatment, and served as a control for the virulence of the Staphylococcus aureus cells. The survival of the mice was observed for the next 5 days after infection. The results are summarized in table 8.

Table 8: Survival of mice after Staphylococcus aureus infection achieving different treatments

survival (number of animals) treatment concentration day 0 day 1 day 2 day 3 day 4 day 5 (mg/kg)

EADpitti26_CBDUSA- 100 6 6 6 6 6 6

It turned out that IV application of endolysin EADpitti26_CBDUSA-Add2_M5 after IV inoculation of mice with Staphylococcus aureus cells at a concentration of 2 x 10 cells guaranteed survival of all mice within the observation period at all three dosages tested. Without treatment, all the animals from the control group had died on day 3. The formulation buffer for the endolysin itself seemed to have a somewhat negative effect, as in this group all the animals had died already on day 2. After treatment with the antibiotic vancomycin all the animals survived in the groups treated with high and medium dosages, but some animals died in the group treated with the low dosage of antibiotic. From the efficacy study, endolysin EADpitti26_CBDUSA-Add2_M5 appears a good tool for treatment of Staphylococcus aureus infections, and an alternative to treatment with antibiotics were often resistances occur.