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Isolation and characterization of a gene encoding a Chlamydia pneumoniae 76-kilodalton protein containing a species-specific epitope.

ABSTRACT: Chlamydia pneumoniae is a human respiratory pathogen. Unlike the other two Chlamydia species, no species-specific antigen has been defined for C. pneumoniae. An immunoreactive clone containing a 0.8-kb fragment was isolated from a C. pneumoniae (AR-39) genomic library by using anti-C. pneumoniae rabbit immune serum. By Southern hybridization analysis of chromosomal digests of the different Chlamydia spp., the 0.8-kb fragment was shown to react specifically with C. pneumoniae. Subcloning of this fragment into the pGEX-1 lambda T expression vector resulted in the expression of a 62-kDa fusion protein. This fusion protein as well as the cleaved C. pneumoniae peptide were recognized by anti-C. pneumoniae rabbit immune serum, while the glutathione S-transferase moiety was not recognized. The fusion protein was used to produce monospecific rabbit antiserum. This antiserum was shown to react with a 76-kDa protein in all C. pneumoniae isolates tested, specifically recognize C. pneumoniae inclusions in tissue culture, and neutralize infectivity of C. pneumoniae in cell culture. No reactivity was observed with Chlamydia trachomatis or Chlamydia psittaci. To isolate the entire coding sequence of the 76-kDa protein, two partially overlapping fragments of C. pneumoniae DNA, a 3.2-kb HindIII fragment and a 1.2-kb PvuII fragment, were isolated, cloned, and sequenced. No significant sequence similarity was found with any previously reported nucleotide or amino acid sequence of the other Chlamydia species. This C. pneumoniae protein containing a species-specific epitope could play a role in pathogenesis and may be useful as a diagnostic tool.

SUBMITTER: Perez Melgosa M

PROVIDER: S-EPMC186197 | biostudies-other | 1994 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-other

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Isolation and characterization of a gene encoding a Chlamydia pneumoniae 76-kilodalton protein containing a species-specific epitope.

Perez Melgosa M M Kuo C C CC Campbell L A LA

Infection and immunity 19940301 3

Chlamydia pneumoniae is a human respiratory pathogen. Unlike the other two Chlamydia species, no species-specific antigen has been defined for C. pneumoniae. An immunoreactive clone containing a 0.8-kb fragment was isolated from a C. pneumoniae (AR-39) genomic library by using anti-C. pneumoniae rabbit immune serum. By Southern hybridization analysis of chromosomal digests of the different Chlamydia spp., the 0.8-kb fragment was shown to react specifically with C. pneumoniae. Subcloning of this ...[more]

PMID: 7509320

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Project description:BackgroundLimited body of evidence suggests that lipopolysaccharide of C. pneumoniae as well as C. pneumoniae-specific immune complexes can be detected and isolated from human serum. The aim of this study was to investigate the presence of viable elementary bodies of C.pneumoniae in serum samples of patients with acute coronary syndrome and healthy volunteers.Material and methodsSerum specimens from 26 healthy volunteers and 56 patients with acute coronary syndrome were examined subsequently by serological (C.pneumoniae-specific IgA and IgG), PCR-based and bacteriological methods. Conventional, nested and TaqMan PCR were used to detect C.pneumoniae genetic markers (ompA and 16S rRNA) in DNA from serum specimens extracted with different methods. An alternative protocol which included culturing high-speed serum sediments in HL cells and further C.pneumoniae growth evaluation with immunofluorescence analysis and TaqMan PCR was established. Pellet fraction of PCR-positive serum specimens was also examined by immunoelectron microscopy.ResultsBest efficiency of final PCR product recovery from serum specimens has been shown with specific C. pneumoniae primers using phenol-chloroform DNA extraction protocol. TaqMan PCR analysis revealed that human serum of patients with acute coronary syndrome may contain genetic markers of C. pneumoniae with bacterial load range from 200 to 2000 copies/ml serum. However, reliability and reproducibility of TaqMan PCR were poor for serum specimens with low bacterial copy number (<200 /ml). Combination of bacteriological, immunofluorescence and PCR- based protocols applied for the evaluating HL cells infected with serum sediments revealed that 21.0 % of the patients with acute coronary syndrome have viable forms C.pneumoniae in serum. The detection rate of C.pneumoniae in healthy volunteers was much lower (7.7%). Immunological profile of the patients did not match accurately C.pneumoniae detection rate in serum specimens. Elementary bodies of C.pneumoniae with typical ultrastructural characteristics were also identified in serum sediments using immunoelectron microscopy.ConclusionsViable forms C. pneumoniae with typical electron microscopic structure can be identified and isolated from serum specimens of the patients with acute coronary syndrome and some healthy volunteers. Increased detection rate of C. pneumoniae in serum among the patients with an acute coronary syndrome may contribute towards enhanced pro-inflammatory status in cardiovascular patients and development of secondary complications of atherosclerosis.

Project description:The genome sequences of Chlamydia trachomatis mouse pneumonitis (MoPn) strain Nigg (1 069 412 nt) and Chlamydia pneumoniae strain AR39 (1 229 853 nt) were determined using a random shotgun strategy. The MoPn genome exhibited a general conservation of gene order and content with the previously sequenced C.trachomatis serovar D. Differences between C.trachomatis strains were focused on an approximately 50 kb 'plasticity zone' near the termination origins. In this region MoPn contained three copies of a novel gene encoding a >3000 amino acid toxin homologous to a predicted toxin from Escherichia coli O157:H7 but had apparently lost the tryptophan biosyntheis genes found in serovar D in this region. The C. pneumoniae AR39 chromosome was >99.9% identical to the previously sequenced C.pneumoniae CWL029 genome, however, comparative analysis identified an invertible DNA segment upstream of the uridine kinase gene which was in different orientations in the two genomes. AR39 also contained a novel 4524 nt circular single-stranded (ss)DNA bacteriophage, the first time a virus has been reported infecting C. pneumoniae. Although the chlamydial genomes were highly conserved, there were intriguing differences in key nucleotide salvage pathways: C.pneumoniae has a uridine kinase gene for dUTP production, MoPn has a uracil phosphororibosyl transferase, while C.trachomatis serovar D contains neither gene. Chromosomal comparison revealed that there had been multiple large inversion events since the species divergence of C.trachomatis and C.pneumoniae, apparently oriented around the axis of the origin of replication and the termination region. The striking synteny of the Chlamydia genomes and prevalence of tandemly duplicated genes are evidence of minimal chromosome rearrangement and foreign gene uptake, presumably owing to the ecological isolation of the obligate intracellular parasites. In the absence of genetic analysis, comparative genomics will continue to provide insight into the virulence mechanisms of these important human pathogens.

Dataset Information

Isolation and characterization of a gene encoding a Chlamydia pneumoniae 76-kilodalton protein containing a species-specific epitope.

Publications

Isolation and characterization of a gene encoding a Chlamydia pneumoniae 76-kilodalton protein containing a species-specific epitope.

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