title: A fibrinogen-binding protein of Staphylococcus epidermidis.
abstract: The present study reports on fibrinogen (Fg) binding of Staphylococcus epidermidis. Adhesion of different S. epidermidis strains to immobilized Fg was found to vary significantly between different strains, and the component responsible was found to be proteinaceous in nature. To further characterize the Fg-binding activity, a shotgun phage display library covering the S. epidermidis chromosome was constructed. By affinity selection (panning) against immobilized Fg, a phagemid clone, pSEFG1, was isolated, which harbors an insert with an open reading frame of approximately 1.7 kilobases. Results from binding and inhibition experiments demonstrated that the insert of pSEFG1 encodes a specific Fg-binding protein. Furthermore, affinity-purified protein encoded by pSEFG1 completely inhibited adhesion of S. epidermidis to immobilized Fg. By additional cloning and DNA sequence analyses, the complete gene, termed fbe, was found to consist of an open reading frame of 3,276 nucleotides encoding a protein, called Fbe, with a deduced molecular mass of approximately 119 kDa. With a second phage display library made from another clinical isolate of S. epidermidis, it was possible to localize the Fg-binding region to a 331-amino-acid-long fragment. PCR analysis showed that the fbe gene was found in 40 of 43 clinical isolates of S. epidermidis. The overall organization of Fbe resembles those of other extracellular surface proteins of staphylococci and streptococci. Sequence comparisons with earlier known proteins revealed that this protein is related to an Fg-binding protein of Staphylococcus aureus called clumping factor.
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, S-750 07 Uppsala, Sweden.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Nilsson
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Frykberg
authors.forename: J I
authors.initials: JI
authors.lastname: Flock
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Pei
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Lindberg
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Guss
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D001422:Bacterial Adhesion / Q000235:genetics*; D001426:Bacterial Proteins; D001483:Base Sequence; D001665:Binding Sites; D002352:Carrier Proteins / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D003030:Coagulase / Q000235:genetics; D005340:Fibrinogen / Q000378:metabolism*; D015870:Gene Expression; D015723:Gene Library; D005798:Genes, Bacterial; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D011485:Protein Binding; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA; D017386:Sequence Homology, Amino Acid; D013045:Species Specificity; D013212:Staphylococcus epidermidis / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D001426:Bacterial Proteins; D002352:Carrier Proteins; D003030:Coagulase; C112556:Fbe protein, bacteria; D005340:Fibrinogen