{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,19]],"date-time":"2026-06-19T04:51:48Z","timestamp":1781844708180,"version":"3.54.5"},"reference-count":45,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"6","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,12]],"date-time":"2026-06-12T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1781222400000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"name":"Russian Scientific Foundation","award":["125012300671-8"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["125012300671-8"]}]},{"name":"Ministry of Education and Science","award":["125012300671-8"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["125012300671-8"]}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Viruses"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Considering the therapeutic potential of the Proteus mirabilis PM16 podophage, the interaction between PM16, its host strain, and the mouse immune system was investigated. We evaluated how pre-existing humoral immunity to PM16 influences the immune response against P. mirabilis and the neutralization of the phage itself. Balb\/c mice were divided into three groups and immunized two times with (1) 0.9% NaCl, (2) adjuvants, or (3) a mixture of PM16 and an adjuvant. Then, each group was subdivided into three subgroups: mock infection, infection with P. mirabilis, and infection with P. mirabilis followed by model phage therapy with PM16. The obtained results demonstrated that pre-immunization with PM16 enhanced the anti-P. mirabilis IgG antibody response upon bacterial challenge, indicating that the phage potentiates antibacterial immunity. In addition, pre-immunization elicited a significant anti-PM16 antibody response that resulted in in vitro neutralization of phage lytic activity. However, phage-neutralizing antibodies neither decreased the efficacy of phage therapy nor influenced bacteria-specific immune response. Thus, while PM16 can boost the host\u2019s immune response against its bacterial host, the resulting humoral immunity also drives phage clearance through both direct and bacteria-mediated neutralization pathways, revealing a complex immunopharmacological relationship central to phage therapy.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/v18060669","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,16]],"date-time":"2026-06-16T05:46:28Z","timestamp":1781588788000},"page":"669","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["The Podophage PM16 Enhances the Humoral Immune Response Against Proteus mirabilis"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"18","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-0981-7722","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Lina","family":"Al Allaf","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Laboratory of Molecular Microbiology, Institute of Chemical Biology and Fundamental Medicine Siberian Branch of Russian Academy of Sciences, 630090 Novosibirsk, Russia"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-0238-4533","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Anton V.","family":"Chechushkov","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Laboratory of Molecular Microbiology, Institute of Chemical Biology and Fundamental Medicine Siberian Branch of Russian Academy of Sciences, 630090 Novosibirsk, Russia"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-0869-3476","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Vera V.","family":"Morozova","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Laboratory of Molecular Microbiology, Institute of Chemical Biology and Fundamental Medicine Siberian Branch of Russian Academy of Sciences, 630090 Novosibirsk, Russia"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Yulia N.","family":"Kozlova","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Laboratory of Molecular Microbiology, Institute of Chemical Biology and Fundamental Medicine Siberian Branch of Russian Academy of Sciences, 630090 Novosibirsk, Russia"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Tatiana A.","family":"Ushakova","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Laboratory of Molecular Microbiology, Institute of Chemical Biology and Fundamental Medicine Siberian Branch of Russian Academy of Sciences, 630090 Novosibirsk, Russia"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Nina V.","family":"Tikunova","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Laboratory of Molecular Microbiology, Institute of Chemical Biology and Fundamental Medicine Siberian Branch of Russian Academy of Sciences, 630090 Novosibirsk, Russia"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,12]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Chakkour, M., Hammoud, Z., Farhat, S., El Roz, A., Ezzeddine, Z., and Ghssein, G. 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