Immunoblotting to demonstrate antigenic and immunogenic differences among nine standard strains of Clostridium difficile.
The epidemiology of Clostridium difficile-associated disease is being elucidated with the development of typing schemes for the organism. We recently described a new typing scheme based on the incorporation of [35S]methionine into bacterial proteins followed by sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis and autoradiography. Nine standard strains were identified. We report here some observations on the antigenic differences among these nine strains when studied by immunoblotting. Type-specific rabbit antiserum was raised against each of the nine standard strains. Immunoblotting of the strains with these antisera demonstrated, in addition to the presence of shared, common proteins, a type-specific response with homologous antisera. When [35S]methionine-labeled C. difficile proteins were immunoblotted with homologous and heterologous antisera, both the immunoblots and the autoradiographs demonstrated the same strain-specific response. These strain-specific proteins, which have been so useful for epidemiological and typing purposes, were also immunogenic.
D000818:Animals; D000942:Antigens, Bacterial / Q000032:analysis* / Q000276:immunology; D001345:Autoradiography; D001426:Bacterial Proteins / Q000032:analysis / Q000276:immunology*; D003013:Clostridium / Q000145:classification* / Q000276:immunology; D004591:Electrophoresis, Polyacrylamide Gel; D000939:Epitopes; D006801:Humans; D007158:Immunologic Techniques; D008297:Male; D011817:Rabbits
D000942:Antigens, Bacterial; D001426:Bacterial Proteins; D000939:Epitopes