title: Tpr homologs in Treponema paraluiscuniculi Cuniculi A strain.
abstract: Treponema paraluiscuniculi, the etiologic agent of rabbit venereal syphilis, is morphologically indistinguishable from Treponema pallidum subsp. pallidum (T. pallidum), the human syphilis treponeme, and induces similar immune responses and histopathologic changes in the infected host. Because of their high degree of relatedness, comparative studies are likely to identify genetic determinants that contribute to pathogenesis or virulence in human syphilis. The tpr (Treponema pallidum repeat) genes are believed to code for potential virulence factors. In this study, we identified 10 tpr homologs in Treponema paraluiscuniculi Cuniculi A strain and determined their sequence architecture. Half of this group of paralogous genes were predicted to be nonfunctional due to the presence of frameshifts and premature stop codons. Furthermore, the immune response against the T. paraluiscuniculi Tpr homologs in long-term-infected rabbits was studied by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay and lymphocyte proliferation assay, showing that TprK is the only target of the antibody and T-cell responses during experimental infection and emphasizing the importance of this putative virulence factor in venereal treponematosis.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, University of Washington, Seattle, USA.
authors.forename: Lorenzo
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Giacani
authors.forename: Eileen S
authors.initials: ES
authors.lastname: Sun
authors.forename: Karin
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Hevner
authors.forename: Barbara J
authors.initials: BJ
authors.lastname: Molini
authors.forename: Wesley C
authors.initials: WC
authors.lastname: Van Voorhis
authors.forename: Sheila A
authors.initials: SA
authors.lastname: Lukehart
authors.forename: Arturo
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Centurion-Lara
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D000907:Antibodies, Bacterial / Q000097:blood; D001425:Bacterial Outer Membrane Proteins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics* / Q000276:immunology; D006801:Humans; D008213:Lymphocyte Activation; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D010455:Peptides / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology; D011817:Rabbits; D016415:Sequence Alignment; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA; D017386:Sequence Homology, Amino Acid; D013587:Syphilis / Q000382:microbiology*; D013601:T-Lymphocytes / Q000276:immunology; D014208:Treponema / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism / Q000472:pathogenicity*; D014210:Treponema pallidum / Q000235:genetics / Q000472:pathogenicity*; D014774:Virulence
chemical_list: D000907:Antibodies, Bacterial; D001425:Bacterial Outer Membrane Proteins; D010455:Peptides; C406409:Tpr protein, Treponema