title: Expression and immunological characterization of the carboxy-terminal region of the P1 adhesin protein of Mycoplasma pneumoniae.
abstract: Mycoplasma pneumoniae is the causative agent of primary atypical pneumonia in humans. Adherence of M. pneumoniae to host cells requires several adhesin proteins, such as P1, P30, and P116. A major limitation in developing a specific diagnostic test for M. pneumoniae is the inability to express adhesin proteins in heterologous expression systems due to unusual usage of the UGA stop codon, leading to premature termination of these proteins in Escherichia coli. In the present study, we successfully expressed the C-terminal (P1-C1) and N-terminal (P1-N1) regions of the P1 protein in E. coli. On screening these recombinant proteins with sera from M. pneumoniae-infected patients, only the P1-C1 protein was found to be immunogenic. This protein can be used as an antigen for immunodiagnosis of M. pneumoniae infection, as well as in adherence inhibition studies to understand the pathophysiology of the disease.
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi, India. rc123@hotmail.com
authors.forename: Rama
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Chaudhry
authors.forename: Nazima
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Nisar
authors.forename: Bhavna
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Hora
authors.forename: Sridhar Reddy
authors.initials: SR
authors.lastname: Chirasani
authors.forename: Pawan
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Malhotra
mesh_terms: D018829:Adhesins, Bacterial / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology* / Q000378:metabolism; D000907:Antibodies, Bacterial / Q000097:blood*; D001422:Bacterial Adhesion; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; D004926:Escherichia coli / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D006801:Humans; D009177:Mycoplasma pneumoniae / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology* / Q000378:metabolism; D011019:Pneumonia, Mycoplasma / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000382:microbiology; D011994:Recombinant Proteins / Q000276:immunology*
chemical_list: D018829:Adhesins, Bacterial; D000907:Antibodies, Bacterial; D011994:Recombinant Proteins; C035471:adhesin, Mycoplasma pneumoniae