Recombinant gas vesicles and uses thereof

摘要

The invention features a composition that includes a substantially pure recombinant gas vesicles which have at least one heterologous peptide inserted into at one of their structural proteins. The recombinant gas vesicle, when administered to a mammal, is capable of eliciting antibodies which specifically bind to the heterologous peptide. The heterologous peptide can be any peptide against which one wishes to raise antibodies, e.g., a peptide found in the gp12O protein of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV).