Profiling of human antibody responses to Chlamydia trachomatis urogenital tract infection using microplates arrayed with 156 chlamydial fusion proteins

Infect Immun. 2006 Mar;74(3):1490-9. doi: 10.1128/IAI.74.3.1490-1499.2006.

Abstract

The available chlamydial genome sequences have made it possible to comprehensively analyze host responses to all chlamydial proteins, which is essential for further understanding of chlamydial pathogenesis and development of effective chlamydial vaccines. Microplates arrayed with 156 Chlamydia trachomatis fusion proteins were used to evaluate antibody responses in women urogenitally infected with C. trachomatis. Based on both the antibody recognition frequency and titer, seven chlamydial antigens encoded by open reading frames (ORFs) CT089, CT147, CT226, CT681, CT694, CT795, and CT858, respectively, were identified as relatively immunodominant; six of these are encoded by hypothetical ORFs. Antibody binding to these chlamydial fusion proteins was blocked by C. trachomatis-infected but not by normal HeLa cell lysates or irrelevant bacterial lysates. These results have revealed novel immune-reactive chlamydial antigens, not only indicating that the hypothetical ORF-encoded proteins are expressed during chlamydial infection in humans but also providing the proof of principle that the fusion protein-based approach can be used to profile human immune responses to chlamydial infection at the whole-genome scale.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Antibodies, Bacterial / analysis*
  • Antibodies, Bacterial / immunology
  • Antigens, Bacterial / immunology
  • Bacterial Proteins / chemistry*
  • Bacterial Proteins / immunology
  • Chlamydia Infections / immunology*
  • Chlamydia trachomatis / chemistry
  • Chlamydia trachomatis / immunology*
  • Female
  • Female Urogenital Diseases / immunology*
  • Female Urogenital Diseases / microbiology
  • HeLa Cells
  • Humans
  • Microarray Analysis
  • Miniaturization / instrumentation
  • Miniaturization / methods
  • Open Reading Frames
  • Recombinant Fusion Proteins / analysis
  • Recombinant Fusion Proteins / biosynthesis
  • Recombinant Fusion Proteins / immunology

Substances

  • Antibodies, Bacterial
  • Antigens, Bacterial
  • Bacterial Proteins
  • Recombinant Fusion Proteins