title: Isolation and purification of two immunodominant antigens from Nocardia brasiliensis.
abstract: Two immunogenic proteins from a crude extract of Nocardia brasiliensis were purified to homogeneity. A 61-kDa protein (P61) was isolated from a 50% ammonium sulfate precipitate in two steps. Initially, P61 was obtained by electroelution in a 10% nondenatured preparative polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (PAGE). In a second step, the eluate from the nondenatured gel was run in a 12% sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) preparative polyacrylamide gel. After elution, a single band was demonstrated by SDS-PAGE and Western blot (immunoblot). Also, a 24-kDa immunogenic protein (P24) was isolated by gel filtration in a Sephadex G-100 column and then by electroelution in a 12% nondenatured polyacrylamide gel. In a previous paper, we showed by Western blot assays that these proteins are recognized by the sera of mycetoma patients and not by sera from mycobacterial-infected or healthy individuals. We consider these proteins to be good candidates for the study of the host-parasite relationship in nocardial infections. The possible clinical application of these purified antigens in a serological diagnosis is discussed.
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Inmunologia, Facultad de Medicina, Universidad Autonoma de Nuevo Leon, Monterrey, Mexico.
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Vera-Cabrera
authors.forename: M C
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: Salinas-Carmona
authors.forename: O
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Welsh
authors.forename: M A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Rodriguez
mesh_terms: D000942:Antigens, Bacterial / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D004591:Electrophoresis, Polyacrylamide Gel; D016056:Immunodominant Epitopes / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D009615:Nocardia / Q000276:immunology*
chemical_list: D000942:Antigens, Bacterial; D016056:Immunodominant Epitopes