title: Immunoreactive cell wall proteins of Clostridium difficile identified by human sera.
abstract: Clostridium difficile is a leading cause of nosocomial infection in the developed world, causing antibiotic-associated disease in susceptible populations. The identity of immunogenic proteins is important in understanding the pathogenesis of disease and in the design of vaccines. This study analysed the sera of six patients infected during a hospital outbreak of a C. difficile ribotype 017 strain. Using a proteomics-based approach, cell wall proteins were separated by two-dimensional PAGE, and immunoreactive proteins were revealed by reaction with patient sera. The identity of immunoreactive proteins was established by MS. Forty-two different proteins were identified in total. All patient sera reacted with at least one component of the surface-layer protein (SLP), four reacted with both components (high- and low-molecular-mass SLPs), and five reacted with one other cell wall protein, suggesting that these are immunodominant antigens. The role of these proteins as potential vaccine candidates and their roles in pathogenesis deserve further study.
authors.affiliation: Centre for Molecular Microbiology and Infection, Division of Cell and Molecular Biology, Imperial College, London SW7 2AZ, UK.
authors.forename: Anne
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Wright
authors.affiliation: Centre for Food Safety, School of Agriculture, Food Science and Veterinary Medicine, University College Dublin, Belfield, Dublin 4, Ireland.
authors.forename: Denise
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Drudy
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine for the Older Person, Mater Misericordiae University Hospital, Dublin 7, Ireland.
authors.forename: Lorraine
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Kyne
authors.affiliation: Centre for Molecular Microbiology and Infection, Division of Cell and Molecular Biology, Imperial College, London SW7 2AZ, UK.
authors.forename: Katherine
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Brown
authors.affiliation: Centre for Molecular Microbiology and Infection, Division of Cell and Molecular Biology, Imperial College, London SW7 2AZ, UK.
authors.forename: Neil F
authors.initials: NF
authors.lastname: Fairweather
mesh_terms: D000907:Antibodies, Bacterial / Q000097:blood / Q000276:immunology; D001426:Bacterial Proteins / Q000276:immunology* / Q000378:metabolism; D002473:Cell Wall / Q000276:immunology / Q000378:metabolism*; D016360:Clostridioides difficile / Q000276:immunology / Q000378:metabolism*; D003015:Clostridium Infections / Q000097:blood / Q000276:immunology; D006801:Humans; D007106:Immune Sera / Q000276:immunology*; D040901:Proteomics
chemical_list: D000907:Antibodies, Bacterial; D001426:Bacterial Proteins; D007106:Immune Sera