title: Characterization of Streptococcus pneumoniae N-acetylglucosamine-6-phosphate deacetylase as a novel diagnostic marker.
abstract: The identification of novel diagnostic markers of pathogenic bacteria is essential for improving the accuracy of diagnoses and for developing targeted vaccines. Streptococcus pneumoniae is a significant human pathogenic bacterium that causes pneumonia. N-acetylglucosamine-6-phosphate deacetylase (NagA) was identified in a protein mixture secreted by S. pneumoniae and its strong immunogenicity was confirmed in an immuno-proteomic assay against the anti-serum of the secreted protein mixture. In this study, recombinant S. pneumoniae NagA protein was expressed and purified to analyze its protein characteristics, immunospecificity, and immunogenicity, thereby facilitating its evaluation as a novel diagnostic marker for S. pneumoniae. Mass spectrometry analysis showed that S. pneumoniae NagA contains four internal disulfide bonds and that it does not undergo post-translational modification. S. pneumoniae NagA antibodies successfully detected NagA from different S. pneumoniae strains, whereas NagA from other pathogenic bacteria species was not detected. In addition, mice infected with S. pneumoniae generated NagA antibodies in an effective manner. These results suggest that NagA has potential as a novel diagnostic marker for S. pneumoniae because of its high immunogenicity and immunospecificity.
authors.affiliation: Division of Life Science, Korea Basic Science Institute (KBSI), Daejeon 305-806, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Chi-Won
authors.initials: CW
authors.lastname: Choi
authors.forename: Hee-Young
authors.initials: HY
authors.lastname: An
authors.forename: Yong Ju
authors.initials: YJ
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Yeol Gyun
authors.initials: YG
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Sung Ho
authors.initials: SH
authors.lastname: Yun
authors.forename: Edmond Changkyun
authors.initials: EC
authors.lastname: Park
authors.forename: Yeonhee
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Hong
authors.forename: Gun-Hwa
authors.initials: GH
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Jae-Eun
authors.initials: JE
authors.lastname: Park
authors.forename: Sun Jong
authors.initials: SJ
authors.lastname: Baek
authors.forename: Hyun Sik
authors.initials: HS
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Seung Il
authors.initials: SI
authors.lastname: Kim
mesh_terms: D000581:Amidohydrolases / Q000032:analysis*; D000818:Animals; D000907:Antibodies, Bacterial / Q000097:blood*; D000942:Antigens, Bacterial / Q000032:analysis*; D001431:Bacteriological Techniques / Q000379:methods; D006801:Humans; D007118:Immunoassay / Q000379:methods; D051379:Mice; D011008:Pneumococcal Infections / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000382:microbiology*; D013296:Streptococcus pneumoniae / Q000145:classification* / Q000302:isolation & purification*
chemical_list: D000907:Antibodies, Bacterial; D000942:Antigens, Bacterial; D000581:Amidohydrolases; C018717:N-acetylglucosamine-6-phosphate deacetylase