title: Characterization of the humoral response induced by a peptide corresponding to variable domain IV of the major outer membrane protein of Chlamydia trachomatis serovar E.
abstract: A 30-amino-acid peptide corresponding to variable domain IV (VD IV) of the major outer membrane protein of Chlamydia trachomatis serovar E was conjugated to keyhole limpet hemocyanin (KLH) and used to immunize mice. The resulting antisera (anti-KLH-VD IV sera) recognized all 15 serovars of C. trachomatis when assayed by indirect immunofluorescence and Western blotting. Probing of overlapping hexameric peptides representing VD IV with mouse anti-KLH-VD IV sera revealed that two main regions of the peptide were recognized by the antisera, the N terminus of the peptide, which contains B-complex-specific epitopes, and the middle region of the peptide, which contains a species-conserved domain. When used in an in vitro neutralization assay, these antisera were able to neutralize mainly serovars in the B complex. These data provide evidence that a linear peptide corresponding to VD IV can induce in vitro protection from C. trachomatis infectivity that is subspecies specific.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, University of California, Irvine 92717.
authors.forename: X
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Cheng
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Pal
authors.forename: L M
authors.initials: LM
authors.lastname: de la Maza
authors.forename: E M
authors.initials: EM
authors.lastname: Peterson
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000907:Antibodies, Bacterial / Q000032:analysis*; D001425:Bacterial Outer Membrane Proteins / Q000276:immunology*; D001483:Base Sequence; D002692:Chlamydia trachomatis / Q000276:immunology*; D007114:Immunization; D051379:Mice; D008807:Mice, Inbred BALB C; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D010446:Peptide Fragments / Q000276:immunology*
chemical_list: D000907:Antibodies, Bacterial; D001425:Bacterial Outer Membrane Proteins; D010446:Peptide Fragments