Epitopes of Immunoreactive Proteins of Streptococcus Agalactiae: Enolase, Inosine 5'-Monophosphate Dehydrogenase and Molecular Chaperone GroEL.

Anna Dobrut,Andrzej Gamian,Monika Brzychczy-Włoch,Sabina Górska,Ewa Brzozowska,Małgorzata Bulanda,Marcelina Pyclik,Elzbieta Majewska

doi:10.3389/fcimb.2018.00349

Abstract

Three Streptococcus agalactiae (group B streptococci, GBS) immunoreactive proteins: enolase (47.4 kDa), inosine 5′-monophosphate dehydrogenase (IMPDH) (53 kDa) and molecular chaperone GroEL (57 kDa) were subjected to investigation. Enolase protein was described in our previous paper, whereas IMPDH and GroEL were presented for the first time. The aim of our paper was to provide mapping of specific epitopes, highly reactive with umbilical cord blood serum. Bioinformatic analyses allowed to select 32 most likely epitopes for enolase, 36 peptides for IMPDH and 41 immunoreactive peptides for molecular chaperone GroEL, which were synthesized by PEPSCAN. Ten peptides: two in enolase, one in IMPDH and seven in molecular chaperone GroEL have been identified as potentially highly selective epitopes that can be used as markers in rapid immunological diagnostic tests or constitute a component of an innovative vaccine against GBS infections.

Highlights

Streptococcus agalactiae (Group B Streptococcus, GBS) is a Gram-positive opportunistic pathogen, which colonizes the genitourinary and gastrointestinal tracts
In our previous study at least four immunoreactive proteins, including enolase, were identified in a pool of sixty genetically different GBS strains isolated from various infection types (Brzychczy-Wloch et al, 2013)
Three of which are studied in this paper: enolase (47.4 kDa), inosine 5′-monophosphate dehydrogenase (IMPDH) (53 kDa), and molecular chaperone GroEL (57 kDa), in all GBS strains (Figure 1)

Summary

Introduction

Streptococcus agalactiae (Group B Streptococcus, GBS) is a Gram-positive opportunistic pathogen, which colonizes the genitourinary and gastrointestinal tracts. Infections caused by this bacterium can be dangerous for some patients, including newborns, pregnant women, elderly patients, diabetics, and immunosuppressed adults (Edwards and Baker, 2005; Rodriguez-Granger et al, 2012). The percentage of carriers among pregnant European women varies and ranges from 6.6% in Greece to 36% in Denmark (Tsolia et al, 2003; Hansen et al, 2004). In Poland, depending on the methodology, up to 30% of pregnant women are estimated to be colonized by GBS (Brzychczy-Włoch et al, 2012). Infections caused by GBS typically take the form of sepsis, pneumonia, or meningitis, which result in high mortality among infants (Johri et al, 2006). To decrease the growing number of GBS carriage, since 1996, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, pregnant women

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