Sikora Lab Publications
1. Wolske N, Turuvekere Vittala Murthy N, Chanda A, Nazir J, Zielke RA, Martinez FG, Kim J, Kant R, Sahay G, Sikora AE. An mRNA–Lipid Nanoparticle Platform Encoding the Conserved Outer Membrane Protein BamA Elicits Broadly Cross-Reactive Systemic and Mucosal Antibodies Against Antimicrobial-Resistant Neisseria gonorrhoeae. bioRxiv 2026.07.20.739634; doi: https://doi.org/10.64898/2026.07.20.739634
2. Chanda A, Song Y, Nazir J, Lin C, Cheng A, Sargent J, Sikora AE. Comparable immunogenicity from murine blood collection methods in intranasal gonococcal vaccination with ACP and MtrE supports refinement of preclinical vaccine studies. Sci Rep. 2026 Mar 17;16(1). doi: 10.1038/s41598-026-44505-5. PubMed [citation] PMID: 41845032, PMCID: PMC13128881
3. Zhu W, Waltmann A, Little MB, Connolly KL, Matthias KA, Thomas KS, Gray MC, Sikora AE, Criss AK, Bash MC, Macintyre AN, Jerse AE, Duncan JA. Correction: Protection against N. gonorrhoeae induced by OMV-based meningococcal vaccines are associated with cross-species directed humoral and cellular immune responses. Front Immunol. 2025 Sep 12;16:1697855. doi: 10.3389/fimmu.2025.1697855. eCollection 2025. PubMed [citation] PMID: 41019067, PMCID: PMC12464695
4. Matthias KA, Connolly KL, Jerse AE, Kumova OK, Macintyre AN, Gray MC, Thomas KS, Criss AK, Zielke RA, Li L, Sikora AE, Ramirez-Bencomo F, Thistlethwaite A, Derrick JP, Lu WE, Bash MC. Evaluation of Immunization Route in Induction of Vaccine-Mediated Anti-Gonococcal Immune Responses in a Murine Model of Ascending Infection. J Infect Dis. 2025 Nov 14;232(5):e765-e777. doi: 10.1093/infdis/jiaf445. PubMed [citation] PMID: 40971931, PMCID: PMC12614976
5. Zhu W, Waltmann A, Little MB, Connolly KL, Matthias KA, Thomas KS, Gray MC, Sikora AE, Criss AK, Bash MC, Macintyre AN, Jerse AE, Duncan JA. Protection against N. gonorrhoeae induced by OMV-based meningococcal vaccines are associated with cross-species directed humoral and cellular immune responses. Front Immunol. 2025 Apr 11;16:1539795. doi: 10.3389/fimmu.2025.1539795. eCollection 2025. Erratum in: Front Immunol. 2025 Sep 12;16:1697855. doi: 10.3389/fimmu.2025.1697855.. PubMed [citation] PMID: 40292302, PMCID: PMC12021806
6. Chanda A, Song Y, Nazir J, Lin C, Cheng A, Sargent J, Sikora AE. Bridging Gaps in Antibody Responses and Animal Welfare: Assessing Blood Collection Methods and Vaginal Immunity in Mice Immunized with Intranasal Gonococcal Vaccines. bioRxiv. 2025 Feb 23. pii: 2025.02.23.639724. doi: 10.1101/2025.02.23.639724. PubMed [citation] PMID: 40027683, PMCID: PMC11870632
7. Yadav SK, Bhardwaj P, Kant R, Ghosh J, Mangla AG, Muralidhar S, Saluja D, Singh R, Sikora AE, Taneja J. Prevalence, Risk Factors, Hesitancy, and Attitudes Toward Vaccination Against Reproductive Tract Infections Among Women in an Urban Setting: A Cross-Sectional Survey Study. medRxiv. 2025 Feb 14. pii: 2025.02.13.25322217. doi: 10.1101/2025.02.13.25322217. PubMed [citation] PMID: 39990560, PMCID: PMC11844590
8. Zhu W, Waltmann A, Little MB, Connolly KL, Matthias KA, Thomas KS, Gray MC, Sikora AE, Criss AK, Bash MC, Macintyre AN, Jerse AE, Duncan JA. Protection against N. gonorrhoeae induced by OMV-based Meningococcal Vaccines are associated with cross-species directed humoral and cellular immune responses. bioRxiv. 2024 Nov 30. pii: 2024.11.29.626107. doi: 10.1101/2024.11.29.626107. Update in: Front Immunol. 2025 Apr 11;16:1539795. doi: 10.3389/fimmu.2025.1539795.. PubMed [citation] PMID: 39651121, PMCID: PMC11623675
9. Stover EL, Little MB, Connolly KL, Li L, Nicholas RA, Sikora AE, Jerse AE, Hobbs MM, Duncan JA, Macintyre AN. Development and Validation of Multiplex Assays for Mouse and Human IgG and IgA to Neisseria gonorrhoeae Antigens. J Infect Dis. 2024 Oct 16;230(4):852-856. doi: 10.1093/infdis/jiae153. PubMed [citation] PMID: 38526341, PMCID: PMC11481346
10. Martinez FG, Zielke RA, Fougeroux CE, Li L, Sander AF, Sikora AE. Development of a Tag/Catcher-mediated capsid virus-like particle vaccine presenting the conserved Neisseria gonorrhoeae SliC antigen that blocks human lysozyme. Infect Immun. 2023 Dec 12;91(12):e0024523. doi: 10.1128/iai.00245-23. Epub 2023 Nov 2. PubMed [citation] PMID: 37916806, PMCID: PMC10715030
11. Baarda BI, Zielke RA, Holm AK, Sikora AE. Comprehensive Bioinformatic Assessments of the Variability of Neisseria gonorrhoeae Vaccine Candidates. mSphere. 2021 Feb 3;6(1). doi: 10.1128/mSphere.00977-20. PubMed [citation] PMID: 33536323, PMCID: PMC7860988
12. Harvey SM, Gibbs SE, Sikora AE. A Critical Need for Research on Gonorrhea Vaccine Acceptability. Sex Transm Dis. 2021 Aug 1;48(8):e116-e118. doi: 10.1097/OLQ.0000000000001331. No abstract available. PubMed [citation] PMID: 33201020
13. Sikora AE, Gomez C, Le Van A, Baarda BI, Darnell S, Martinez FG, Zielke RA, Bonventre JA, Jerse AE. A novel gonorrhea vaccine composed of MetQ lipoprotein formulated with CpG shortens experimental murine infection. Vaccine. 2020 Dec 3;38(51):8175-8184. doi: 10.1016/j.vaccine.2020.10.077. Epub 2020 Nov 5. PubMed [citation] PMID: 33162204, PMCID: PMC7704770
14. Baarda BI, Sikora AE. Phenotypic MicroArray Screening of Neisseria gonorrhoeae in Chemically Defined Liquid Medium. Methods Mol Biol. 2019;1997:207-216. doi: 10.1007/978-1-4939-9496-0_13. PubMed [citation] PMID: 31119626
15. El-Rami FE, Sikora AE. Bioinformatics Workflow for Gonococcal Proteomics. Methods Mol Biol. 2019;1997:185-205. doi: 10.1007/978-1-4939-9496-0_12. PubMed [citation] PMID: 31119625
16. Baarda BI, Zielke RA, Le Van A, Jerse AE, Sikora AE. Neisseria gonorrhoeae MlaA influences gonococcal virulence and membrane vesicle production. PLoS Pathog. 2019 Mar 7;15(3):e1007385. doi: 10.1371/journal.ppat.1007385. eCollection 2019 Mar. PubMed [citation] PMID: 30845186, PMCID: PMC6424457
17. Baarda BI, Zielke RA, Nicholas RA, Sikora AE. PubMLST for Antigen Allele Mining to Inform Development of Gonorrhea Protein-Based Vaccines. Front Microbiol. 2018 Dec 7;9:2971. doi: 10.3389/fmicb.2018.02971. eCollection 2018. PubMed [citation] PMID: 30581422, PMCID: PMC6292995
18. Baarda BI, Martinez FG, Sikora AE. Proteomics, Bioinformatics and Structure-Function Antigen Mining For Gonorrhea Vaccines. Front Immunol. 2018 Dec 4;9:2793. doi: 10.3389/fimmu.2018.02793. eCollection 2018. Review. PubMed [citation] PMID: 30564232, PMCID: PMC6288298
19. Baarda BI, Zielke RA, Jerse AE, Sikora AE. Lipid-Modified Azurin of Neisseria gonorrhoeae Is Not Surface Exposed and Does Not Interact With the Nitrite Reductase AniA. Front Microbiol. 2018 Nov 27;9:2915. doi: 10.3389/fmicb.2018.02915. eCollection 2018. PubMed [citation] PMID: 30538694, PMCID: PMC6277709
20. Paraiso IL, Plagmann LS, Yang L, Zielke R, Gombart AF, Maier CS, Sikora AE, Blakemore PR, Stevens JF. Reductive Metabolism of Xanthohumol and 8-Prenylnaringenin by the Intestinal Bacterium Eubacterium ramulus. Mol Nutr Food Res. 2019 Jan;63(2):e1800923. doi: 10.1002/mnfr.201800923. Epub 2018 Dec 3. PubMed [citation] PMID: 30471194, PMCID: PMC6561348
21. El-Rami FE, Zielke RA, Wi T, Sikora AE, Unemo M. Quantitative Proteomics of the 2016 WHO Neisseria gonorrhoeae Reference Strains Surveys Vaccine Candidates and Antimicrobial Resistance Determinants. Mol Cell Proteomics. 2019 Jan;18(1):127-150. doi: 10.1074/mcp.RA118.001125. Epub 2018 Oct 23. PubMed [citation] PMID: 30352803, PMCID: PMC6317477
22. Lam KC, Vyshenska D, Hu J, Rodrigues RR, Nilsen A, Zielke RA, Brown NS, Aarnes EK, Sikora AE, Shulzhenko N, Lyng H, Morgun A. Transkingdom network reveals bacterial players associated with cervical cancer gene expression program. PeerJ. 2018 Sep 19;6:e5590. doi: 10.7717/peerj.5590. eCollection 2018. PubMed [citation] PMID: 30294508, PMCID: PMC6170155
23. Weber BR, Sikora AE. Methods for Assessments of Collagenolytic Activity of the Vibrio cholerae Extracellular Proteases, Purification of Secreted Collagenase VchC, and Extraction of Type I Collagen from Fish Skin. Methods Mol Biol. 2018;1839:153-169. doi: 10.1007/978-1-4939-8685-9_14. PubMed [citation] PMID: 30047062
24. Sikora AE, Tehan R, McPhail K. Utilization of Vibrio cholerae as a Model Organism to Screen Natural Product Libraries for Identification of New Antibiotics. Methods Mol Biol. 2018;1839:135-146. doi: 10.1007/978-1-4939-8685-9_12. PubMed [citation] PMID: 30047060
25. Zielke RA, Le Van A, Baarda BI, Herrera MF, Acosta CJ, Jerse AE, Sikora AE. SliC is a surface-displayed lipoprotein that is required for the anti-lysozyme strategy during Neisseria gonorrhoeae infection. PLoS Pathog. 2018 Jul 5;14(7):e1007081. doi: 10.1371/journal.ppat.1007081. eCollection 2018 Jul. PubMed [citation] PMID: 29975784, PMCID: PMC6033465
26. Gallegos DA, Saurí J, Cohen RD, Wan X, Videau P, Vallota-Eastman AO, Shaala LA, Youssef DTA, Williamson RT, Martin GE, Philmus B, Sikora AE, Ishmael JE, McPhail KL. Jizanpeptins, Cyanobacterial Protease Inhibitors from a Symploca sp. Cyanobacterium Collected in the Red Sea. J Nat Prod. 2018 Jun 22;81(6):1417-1425. doi: 10.1021/acs.jnatprod.8b00117. Epub 2018 May 29. PubMed [citation] PMID: 29808677, PMCID: PMC7847313
27. Sikora AE, Wierzbicki IH, Zielke RA, Ryner RF, Korotkov KV, Buchanan SK, Noinaj N. Structural and functional insights into the role of BamD and BamE within the β-barrel assembly machinery in Neisseria gonorrhoeae. J Biol Chem. 2018 Jan 26;293(4):1106-1119. doi: 10.1074/jbc.RA117.000437. Epub 2017 Dec 11. PubMed [citation] PMID: 29229778, PMCID: PMC5787791
28. Unemo M, Sikora AE. Infection: Proof of principle for effectiveness of a gonorrhoea vaccine. Nat Rev Urol. 2017 Nov;14(11):643-644. doi: 10.1038/nrurol.2017.139. Epub 2017 Aug 31. PubMed [citation] PMID: 28858332, PMCID: PMC5735823
29. Dugovich BS, Peel MJ, Palmer AL, Zielke RA, Sikora AE, Beechler BR, Jolles AE, Epps CW, Dolan BP. Detection of bacterial-reactive natural IgM antibodies in desert bighorn sheep populations. PLoS One. 2017 Jun 29;12(6):e0180415. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0180415. eCollection 2017. PubMed [citation] PMID: 28662203, PMCID: PMC5491220
30. Baarda BI, Emerson S, Proteau PJ, Sikora AE. Deciphering the Function of New Gonococcal Vaccine Antigens Using Phenotypic Microarrays. J Bacteriol. 2017 Aug 8;199(17). doi: 10.1128/JB.00037-17. Print 2017 Sep 1. PubMed [citation] PMID: 28630127, PMCID: PMC5553031
31. Sikora AE, Mills RH, Weber JV, Hamza A, Passow BW, Romaine A, Williamson ZA, Reed RW, Zielke RA, Korotkov KV. Peptide Inhibitors Targeting the Neisseria gonorrhoeae Pivotal Anaerobic Respiration Factor AniA. Antimicrob Agents Chemother. 2017 Jul 25;61(8). doi: 10.1128/AAC.00186-17. Print 2017 Aug. PubMed [citation] PMID: 28584144, PMCID: PMC5527597
32. Liu Y, Hammer LA, Liu W, Hobbs MM, Zielke RA, Sikora AE, Jerse AE, Egilmez NK, Russell MW. Experimental vaccine induces Th1-driven immune responses and resistance to Neisseria gonorrhoeae infection in a murine model. Mucosal Immunol. 2017 Nov;10(6):1594-1608. doi: 10.1038/mi.2017.11. Epub 2017 Mar 1. PubMed [citation] PMID: 28272393, PMCID: PMC5591041
33. Wierzbicki IH, Zielke RA, Korotkov KV, Sikora AE. Functional and structural studies on the Neisseria gonorrhoeae GmhA, the first enzyme in the glycero-manno-heptose biosynthesis pathways, demonstrate a critical role in lipooligosaccharide synthesis and gonococcal viability. Microbiologyopen. 2017 Apr;6(2). doi: 10.1002/mbo3.432. Epub 2017 Jan 7. PubMed [citation] PMID: 28063198, PMCID: PMC5387315
34. Greer RL, Dong X, Moraes AC, Zielke RA, Fernandes GR, Peremyslova E, Vasquez-Perez S, Schoenborn AA, Gomes EP, Pereira AC, Ferreira SR, Yao M, Fuss IJ, Strober W, Sikora AE, Taylor GA, Gulati AS, Morgun A, Shulzhenko N. Akkermansia muciniphila mediates negative effects of IFNγ on glucose metabolism. Nat Commun. 2016 Nov 14;7:13329. doi: 10.1038/ncomms13329. PubMed [citation] PMID: 27841267, PMCID: PMC5114536
35. Unemo M, Golparian D, Sánchez-Busó L, Grad Y, Jacobsson S, Ohnishi M, Lahra MM, Limnios A, Sikora AE, Wi T, Harris SR. The novel 2016 WHO Neisseria gonorrhoeae reference strains for global quality assurance of laboratory investigations: phenotypic, genetic and reference genome characterization. J Antimicrob Chemother. 2016 Nov;71(11):3096-3108. Epub 2016 Jul 17. PubMed [citation] PMID: 27432602, PMCID: PMC5079299
36. Zielke RA, Wierzbicki IH, Baarda BI, Gafken PR, Soge OO, Holmes KK, Jerse AE, Unemo M, Sikora AE. Proteomics-driven Antigen Discovery for Development of Vaccines Against Gonorrhea. Mol Cell Proteomics. 2016 Jul;15(7):2338-55. doi: 10.1074/mcp.M116.058800. Epub 2016 May 2. PubMed [citation] PMID: 27141096, PMCID: PMC4937508
37. Bonventre JA, Zielke RA, Korotkov KV, Sikora AE. Targeting an Essential GTPase Obg for the Development of Broad-Spectrum Antibiotics. PLoS One. 2016 Feb 5;11(2):e0148222. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0148222. eCollection 2016. PubMed [citation] PMID: 26848972, PMCID: PMC4743925
38. Baarda BI, Sikora AE. Proteomics of Neisseria gonorrhoeae: the treasure hunt for countermeasures against an old disease. Front Microbiol. 2015 Oct 26;6:1190. doi: 10.3389/fmicb.2015.01190. eCollection 2015. Review. PubMed [citation] PMID: 26579097, PMCID: PMC4620152
39. Zielke RA, Wierzbicki IH, Baarda BI, Sikora AE. The Neisseria gonorrhoeae Obg protein is an essential ribosome-associated GTPase and a potential drug target. BMC Microbiol. 2015 Jun 30;15:129. doi: 10.1186/s12866-015-0453-1. PubMed [citation] PMID: 26122105, PMCID: PMC4487204
40. Park BR, Zielke RA, Wierzbicki IH, Mitchell KC, Withey JH, Sikora AE. A metalloprotease secreted by the type II secretion system links Vibrio cholerae with collagen. J Bacteriol. 2015 Mar;197(6):1051-64. doi: 10.1128/JB.02329-14. Epub 2015 Jan 5. PubMed [citation] PMID: 25561716, PMCID: PMC4336349
41. Zielke RA, Gafken PR, Sikora AE. Quantitative proteomic analysis of the cell envelopes and native membrane vesicles derived from gram-negative bacteria. Curr Protoc Microbiol. 2014 Aug 1;34:1F.3.1-16. doi: 10.1002/9780471729259.mc01f03s34. PubMed [citation] PMID: 25082006
42. Zielke RA, Sikora AE. Isolation of Cell Envelopes and Naturally Released Membrane Vesicles of Neisseria gonorrhoeae. Curr Protoc Microbiol. 2014 Aug 1;34:4A.3.1-17. doi: 10.1002/9780471729259.mc04a03s34. PubMed [citation] PMID: 25082007
43. Zielke RA, Simmons RS, Park BR, Nonogaki M, Emerson S, Sikora AE. The type II secretion pathway in Vibrio cholerae is characterized by growth phase-dependent expression of exoprotein genes and is positively regulated by σE. Infect Immun. 2014 Jul;82(7):2788-801. doi: 10.1128/IAI.01292-13. Epub 2014 Apr 14. PubMed [citation] PMID: 24733097, PMCID: PMC4097608
44. Zielke RA, Wierzbicki IH, Weber JV, Gafken PR, Sikora AE. Quantitative proteomics of the Neisseria gonorrhoeae cell envelope and membrane vesicles for the discovery of potential therapeutic targets. Mol Cell Proteomics. 2014 May;13(5):1299-317. doi: 10.1074/mcp.M113.029538. Epub 2014 Mar 8. PubMed [citation] PMID: 24607996, PMCID: PMC4014286
45. Tran N, Zielke RA, Vining OB, Azevedo MD, Armstrong DJ, Banowetz GM, McPhail KL, Sikora AE. Development of a quantitative assay amenable for high-throughput screening to target the type II secretion system for new treatments against plant-pathogenic bacteria. J Biomol Screen. 2013 Sep;18(8):921-9. doi: 10.1177/1087057113485426. Epub 2013 Apr 11. PubMed [citation] PMID: 23580665
46. Sikora AE. Proteins secreted via the type II secretion system: smart strategies of Vibrio cholerae to maintain fitness in different ecological niches. PLoS Pathog. 2013 Feb;9(2):e1003126. doi: 10.1371/journal.ppat.1003126. Epub 2013 Feb 21. Review. No abstract available. PubMed [citation] PMID: 23436993, PMCID: PMC3578741
47. Johnson TL, Sikora AE, Zielke RA, Sandkvist M. Fluorescence microscopy and proteomics to investigate subcellular localization, assembly, and function of the type II secretion system. Methods Mol Biol. 2013;966:157-72. doi: 10.1007/978-1-62703-245-2_10. PubMed [citation] PMID: 23299734
48. Sikorska J, Parker-Nance S, Davies-Coleman MT, Vining OB, Sikora AE, McPhail KL. Antimicrobial rubrolides from a South African species of Synoicum tunicate. J Nat Prod. 2012 Oct 26;75(10):1824-7. doi: 10.1021/np300580z. Epub 2012 Oct 2. PubMed [citation] PMID: 23030848, PMCID: PMC3549467
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