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Clinical and Diagnostic Laboratory Immunology, March 2002, p. 374-377, Vol. 9, No. 2
1071-412X/02/$04.00+0 DOI: 10.1128/CDLI.9.2.374-377.2002
Copyright © 2002, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.
Laboratório de Biologia Molecular, ICB, Universidade Federal de Goiás, 74001-970 Goiânia, Goiás,1 Laboratório de Micologia Médica, Hospital Evandro Chagas, Fundação Oswaldo Cruz, Rio de Janeiro,2 Laboratório de Biologia Molecular, Instituto de Biologia, Universidade de Brasília, Brasília D.F., Brazil,3 Division of Infectious Diseases, College of Medicine, University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, Ohio 45267-05604
Received 26 July 2001/ Returned for modification 25 September 2001/ Accepted 20 November 2001
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Members of the heat shock protein (HSP) family participate in several cellular processes, including acting as molecular chaperones (6, 11). In addition to their central role in transferring peptides through cells, HSPs are recognized as important molecules in the modulation of the immune system. Of the HSP family members, HSP60 has been shown to be a major immunodominant antigen in parasites and a target of the cell-mediated and humoral immune responses to infections (9). In fact, immune responses to HSPs have been reported in infectious diseases caused by bacteria, protozoa, and fungi and in models of experimental infection (5, 24, 25, 29). Vaccination using a Histoplasma capsulatum recombinant HSP60 induces a protective cellular immune response in experimental mice against intranasally administrated sublethal doses of fungal cells (10). HSP60 from the human-pathogenic fungus Coccidioides immitis triggers proliferation of T cells isolated from immunized mice (27). Furthermore, studies have suggested that antibodies to HSPs from microbes play an important role in protection against infection (14, 20). For instance, sera from patients with American cutaneous leishmaniosis reacted with the recombinant Leishmania major HSP60 (22).
Our laboratory is engaged in a program to identify immunogenic components of P. brasiliensis. Because HSPs are dominant and conserved antigens from several infectious agents, with a potential role in the interaction with the host, we focused our analysis on HSP60 of P. brasiliensis. We have previously reported the cloning and characterization of the P. brasiliensis HSP60 gene and its cDNA. The HSP60 gene from P. brasiliensis encodes a 62-kDa protein, a putative mitochondrial molecule as determined by its signal peptide. We also reported the reaction of native and recombinant glutathione S-transferase-HSP60 proteins to sera from infected patients (23). In the present study we report the expression and purification of the recombinant protein. The protein is recognized by an anti-HSP60 monoclonal antibody. We report the recognition of the recombinant purified HSP60 by a group of sera from 75 individuals with P. brasiliensis infection. In addition, we evaluated the reactivities of the purified HSP60 to sera from individuals with several other diseases.
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Purification of recombinant HSP60. Purification of the recombinant HSP60 from glutathione S-transferase was performed according to the instructions of the manufacturer (Amersham), with modifications. Bacterial extracts were prepared by growing cells to an absorbance of 0.6 at 600 nm. The final concentration of IPTG was 0.1 mM. The bacteria were pelleted and resuspended in phosphate-buffered saline (PBS) (50 µl of PBS for 1 ml of culture). The cells were incubated with lysozyme (100 µg/ml) at 4°C for 1 h. The IPTG-induced cells were extensively sonicated for 30 min at 4°C, and the cell lysate was filtered through 0.45-µm-pore-size nitrate filters. The recombinant protein was purified by affinity chromatography using glutathione-Sepharose 4B (Amersham). After unbound proteins were washed from the column with PBS, the fusion protein was cleaved by the addition of thrombin (50 U in 950 µl of PBS for each 1 ml of Sepharose). The reaction mixture was incubated for 16 h at room temperature, and the recombinant HSP60 was recovered. The protein concentration was measured by the Bradford protein assay (1). The proteins were analyzed on a sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS)-15% polyacrylamide gel. The gels were stained with Coomassie blue (18) or transferred to nitrocellulose sheets.
Immunoblot assays. The proteins were subjected to electrophoresis and transferred to nitrocellulose membranes, as described previously (28). The membranes were blocked with Tris-buffered saline (20 mM Tris-HCl, 150 mM NaCl [pH 7.6]) containing 5% nonfat dry milk. The membranes were reacted with a mouse monoclonal antibody raised to a human recombinant HSP60 (H-3524; Sigma Aldrich, Inc., St. Louis, Mo.) or to human sera. The secondary antibodies were, respectively, anti-mouse immunoglobulin G (IgG) and anti-human IgG, both alkaline phosphatase coupled (Sigma). The reactions were developed with BCIP-NBT (5-bromo-4-chloro-3-indolyl phosphate and nitroblue tetrazolium).
Sera. A total of 121 serum specimens from patients with proven mycotic diseases (75 with paracoccidioidomycosis, 26 with histoplasmosis, 8 with sporotrichosis, 8 with aspergillosis, and 4 with cryptococcosis) were included in this study. Among the paracoccidioidomycosis serum specimens, 45 samples were from patients with the chronic form and 30 were from patients with the acute form of paracoccidioidomycosis. Forty-two control serum samples from healthy individuals and six samples from patients with confirmed tuberculosis, previously tested by immunodifusion against P. brasiliensis exocellular antigens, were also included in this sampling.
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FIG. 1. SDS-PAGE and immunoblot analysis of the recombinant P. brasiliensis HSP60. E. coli XL1 Blue cells harboring the pGEX-4T-3 plasmid were grown at 30°C to an A600 of 0.6 and harvested before (lanes 1) and after (lanes 2) a 2-h incubation with 0.1 mM IPTG. The cells were concentrated by centrifugation and lysed by extensive sonication. After centrifugation, the supernatant was absorbed to a glutathione-Sepharose affinity column in the presence of thrombin for 16 h. The eluate was analyzed (lanes 2). (A) SDS-PAGE analysis. Lane 1, 25 µg of total protein; lane 2, 6 µg of purified recombinant HSP60. (B) Reaction to the monoclonal anti-HSP60 antibody. Lane 1, 25 µg of total protein; lane 2, 500 ng of purified HSP60. The arrows indicate the HSP60 recombinant protein.
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TABLE 1. Nature of sera and reactivity with the recombinant HSP60
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FIG. 2. Reactivities of individual serum samples from P. brasiliensis-infected patients to the recombinant HSP60 as determined by Western blotting. Recombinant purified HSP60 (2.5 µg) was fractionated on an SDS-15% polyacrylamide gel and transferred to a nitrocellulose membrane. (A and B) Reactivity to serum samples (at a 1:500 dilution) from P. brasiliensis-infected patients with chronic and acute disease, respectively. (C) Reactivity of human control sera. Alkaline phosphatase-conjugated anti-human IgG antibody was used at a dilution of 1:1,000. The reactions were developed with BCIP-NBT. Lanes 1, reaction of the purified P. brasiliensis HSP60 to the monoclonal antibody. Lanes 2 to 12, reaction to individual sera at a 1:500 dilution. The numbers on the left are molecular masses in kilodaltons. The arrows indicate the relative gel migration of the purified recombinant HSP60.
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FIG. 3. Reactivities of sera from individuals with different diseases to the recombinant P. brasiliensis HSP60. Purified recombinant protein HSP60 (2.5 µg) was fractionated by one-dimensional gel electrophoresis (SDS-15% PAGE) and transferred to nitrocellulose membranes. Reactivities of serum samples from individuals with histoplasmosis (lanes 2 to 4), aspergillosis (lanes 5 to 7), cryptococcosis (lanes 8 to 10), sporotrichosis (lanes 11 to 13), and tuberculosis (lanes 14 to 16) are shown. Lane 1, reaction to the monoclonal anti-HSP60 antibody. The arrow indicates the relative migration of the purified recombinant HSP60.
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This study was performed to characterize the immunogenicity of the full-length recombinant purified HSP60. The detection of antibody by serological methods is very useful in the diagnosis of paracoccidioidomycosis (2, 3). However, the lack of antigen standardization may be a limitation (8, 17). Therefore, recombinant forms of purified proteins are required as an alternative reagent to replace the crude antigenic preparations.
Evidence is accumulating that HSPs serve as target antigens, and antibodies reactive to them have been found (14, 20, 22). When the recombinant purified HSP60 of P. brasiliensis was separated by SDS-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE) and analyzed by immunoblot assay with serum samples from paracoccidioidomycosis patients, reactivity was observed in 73 of the 75 serum samples analyzed, showing 97.3% sensitivity. The recombinant HSP60 did not react with sera from patients with aspergillosis, cryptococcosis, sporotrichosis, or tuberculosis. Therefore, cross-reactivity was demonstrated in a small number of healthy individuals (4 of 42). In addition, there was also a detectable IgG response in some sera from histoplasmosis patients (3 of 26). Since the HSPs are very conserved proteins and almost every human subject has been confronted with microbial infection, it can be suggested that the positive reactions detected in the heterologous sera are directed against conserved regions of HSP60. Supporting this suggestion, we have found that the deduced amino acid sequence of P. brasiliensis HSP60 is 89% identical to that of the H. capsulatum protein (10, 23).
For diagnostic purposes, an immune response to P. brasiliensis HSP60 should be directed against nonhomologous epitopes. In this context, the finding of no cross-reactivity to sera from individuals with several diseases is relevant. In addition, the 60-kDa antigenic protein demonstrated 92.5% specificity for P. brasiliensis. The high frequency of HSP60 recognition (97.3%) by serum from patients with paracoccidioidomycosis and the high specificity suggest usefulness of this antigen in the serological diagnosis of paracoccidioidomycosis.
To our knowledge, this description is the third one related to recombinant antigens of P. brasiliensis. The exoantigen gp43 and the p27 protein have been characterized and are suitable molecules for the diagnosis of paracoccidioidomycosis (4, 16, 19, 26). Despite those descriptions, there is a paucity of purified cloned antigens. The characterization of new antigenic proteins and their heterologous production will allow a broader spectrum of molecules to be used in the diagnosis of paracoccidioidomycosis. In conclusion, the recombinant form of the antigen HSP60 of P. brasiliensis evaluated in this study shows IgG binding ability and may be of value for specific diagnosis of paracoccidioidomycosis. Further analysis of this recombinant protein in experimental animal models may shed new light on its role in the pathogenesis of the disease.
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