title: Serological characterization of surface-exposed proteins of Coxiella burnetii.
abstract: The obligate intracellular Gram-negative bacterium Coxiella burnetii causes Q fever, a worldwide zoonosis. Here we labelled Cox. burnetii with biotin and used biotin-streptavidin affinity chromatography to isolate surface-exposed proteins (SEPs). Using two-dimensional electrophoresis combined with mass spectrometry, we identified 37 proteins through bioinformatics analysis. Thirty SEPs expressed in Escherichia coli (recombinant SEPs, rSEPs) were used to generate microarrays, which were probed with sera from mice experimentally infected with Cox. burnetii or sera from Q fever patients. Thirteen rSEPs were recognized as seroreactive, and the majority reacted with at least 50 % of the sera from mice infected with Cox. burnetii but not with sera from mice infected with Rickettsia rickettsii, R. heilongjiangensis, or R. typhi. Further, 13 proteins that reacted with sera from patients with Q fever did not react with sera from patients with brucellosis or mycoplasma pneumonia. Our results suggest that these seroreactive SEPs have potential as serodiagnostic antigens or as subunit vaccine antigens against Q fever.
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Pathogen and Biosecurity, Beijing Institute of Microbiology and Epidemiology, Beijing 100071, PR China.
authors.forename: Jun
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Jiao
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Pathogen and Biosecurity, Beijing Institute of Microbiology and Epidemiology, Beijing 100071, PR China.
authors.forename: Xiaolu
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Xiong
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical and Pharmaceutical Biotechnology, Huadong Research Institute for Medicine and Biotechniques, Nanjing 210002, PR China.
authors.forename: Yong
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Qi
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Pathogen and Biosecurity, Beijing Institute of Microbiology and Epidemiology, Beijing 100071, PR China.
authors.forename: Wenping
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Gong
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Pathogen and Biosecurity, Beijing Institute of Microbiology and Epidemiology, Beijing 100071, PR China.
authors.forename: Changsong
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Duan
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Pathogen and Biosecurity, Beijing Institute of Microbiology and Epidemiology, Beijing 100071, PR China.
authors.forename: Xiaomei
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Pathogen and Biosecurity, Beijing Institute of Microbiology and Epidemiology, Beijing 100071, PR China.
authors.forename: Bohai
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Wen
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000907:Antibodies, Bacterial / Q000097:blood; D000942:Antigens, Bacterial / Q000032:analysis* / Q000276:immunology; D001426:Bacterial Proteins / Q000032:analysis* / Q000276:immunology; D019295:Computational Biology; D016997:Coxiella burnetii / Q000737:chemistry*; D015180:Electrophoresis, Gel, Two-Dimensional; D006801:Humans; D013058:Mass Spectrometry; D008565:Membrane Proteins / Q000032:analysis* / Q000276:immunology; D051379:Mice
chemical_list: D000907:Antibodies, Bacterial; D000942:Antigens, Bacterial; D001426:Bacterial Proteins; D008565:Membrane Proteins