title: Construction and immunologic evaluation of a Porphyromonas gingivalis subsequence peptide fused to hepatitis B virus core antigen.
abstract: Several proteins of Porphyromonas gingivalis contain multiple copies of a 47 amino acid conserved repeated sequence. A fusion protein was constructed in which the P. gingivalis peptide was fused to the carboxy terminus of the hepatitis B core protein. This fusion protein was expressed in Escherichia coli, purified, and used to vaccinate mice that were later challenged with P. gingivalis W83 using the mouse abscess model. Although the mice were not protected against bacterial challenge, Western blot analysis showed that sera from the mice and from rabbits immunized with the fusion protein reacted with a number of vesicle proteins from P. gingivalis W83. These data suggested that this peptide is recognized by the host's immune system but that the antibodies are not protective.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Oral and Craniofacial Molecular Biology, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond 23298-0566, USA.
authors.forename: J A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Dawson
authors.forename: F L
authors.initials: FL
authors.lastname: Macrina
mesh_terms: D000038:Abscess / Q000382:microbiology / Q000517:prevention & control; D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D000907:Antibodies, Bacterial / Q000097:blood*; D001428:Bacterial Vaccines / Q000276:immunology*; D016866:Bacteroidaceae Infections / Q000382:microbiology / Q000517:prevention & control*; D015153:Blotting, Western; D003546:Cysteine Endopeptidases / Q000737:chemistry; D005260:Female; D006512:Hepatitis B Core Antigens / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology*; D051379:Mice; D008807:Mice, Inbred BALB C; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D010446:Peptide Fragments / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology*; D016966:Porphyromonas gingivalis / Q000737:chemistry / Q000276:immunology*; D011817:Rabbits; D011993:Recombinant Fusion Proteins / Q000276:immunology / Q000378:metabolism; D014611:Vaccination; D014614:Vaccines, Synthetic / Q000276:immunology
chemical_list: D000907:Antibodies, Bacterial; D001428:Bacterial Vaccines; D006512:Hepatitis B Core Antigens; D010446:Peptide Fragments; D011993:Recombinant Fusion Proteins; D014614:Vaccines, Synthetic; D003546:Cysteine Endopeptidases