Abstract
Shigella infections are initiated at the surface of the colonic mucosa, and dissemination beyond the intestinal tract is rare. Therefore, the colonic antibody response to Shigella infection is of particular interest. In the current study, this mucosal antibody response has been characterized in a group of rhesus monkeys challenged with Shigella flexneri serotype 2a. It has previously been shown [1, 2] that five polypeptides, designated 140 kDa (kilodalton) and a, b, c, and d, are the principal proteinaceous antigens recognized by IgG in convalescent serum from monkeys or humans infected with S. flexneri serotype 2a or Shigella sonnei. These antigenic proteins are encoded by the 120or 140-megadalton (MDa) plasmids that are associated with the invasive phenotype in virulent strains of all shigella serotypes and in enteroinvasive strains of Escherichia coli [3, 4]. The current study indicates that, in addition to a serum IgG response, a major IgG and IgA response in the colonic mucosa is elicited by these plasmid-coded polypeptides.
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