title: Use of protein microarray to identify gene expression changes of Yersinia pestis at different temperatures.
abstract: Yersinia pestis is a bacterium that is transmitted between fleas, which have a body temperature of 26 °C, and mammalian hosts, which have a body temperature of 37 °C. To adapt to the temperature shift, phenotype variations, including virulence, occur. In this study, an antigen microarray including 218 proteins of Y. pestis was used to evaluate antibody responses in a pooled plague serum that was unadsorbed, adsorbed by Y. pestis cultivated at 26 °C, or adsorbed by Y. pestis cultivated at 26 and 37 °C to identify protein expression changes during the temperature shift. We identified 12 proteins as being expressed at 37 °C but not at 26 °C, or expressed at significantly higher levels at 37 °C than at 26 °C. The antibodies against 7 proteins in the serum adsorbed by Y. pestis cultivated at 26 and 37 °C remained positive, suggesting that they were not expressed on the surface of Y. pestis in LB broth in vitro or specifically expressed in vivo. This study proved that protein microarray and antibody profiling comprise a promising technique for monitoring gene expression at the protein level and for better understanding pathogenicity, to find new vaccine targets against plague.
authors.affiliation: Taihe Hospital, Hubei Medical University, Shiyan, Hubei Province, China.
authors.forename: Bei
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Yafang
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Tan
authors.forename: Jingyu
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Guo
authors.forename: Baizhong
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Cui
authors.forename: Zuyun
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Hu
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Lei
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Zhou
authors.forename: Zhaobiao
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Guo
authors.forename: Ziwen
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Zhu
authors.forename: Zongmin
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Du
authors.forename: Ruifu
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Yang
mesh_terms: D000327:Adsorption; D000328:Adult; D000818:Animals; D000907:Antibodies, Bacterial / Q000097:blood; D001426:Bacterial Proteins / Q000276:immunology; D004926:Escherichia coli / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology; D020869:Gene Expression Profiling; D015964:Gene Expression Regulation, Bacterial; D006801:Humans; D056724:Immunity, Humoral; D008297:Male; D010930:Plague / Q000276:immunology / Q000382:microbiology*; D040081:Protein Array Analysis; D013696:Temperature; D014774:Virulence / Q000235:genetics; D037521:Virulence Factors / Q000235:genetics; D015010:Yersinia pestis / Q000235:genetics* / Q000472:pathogenicity
chemical_list: D000907:Antibodies, Bacterial; D001426:Bacterial Proteins; D037521:Virulence Factors