Abstract
Klebsiella spp. and Proteus spp. cause hospital-acquired urinary tract infections (UTIs), which are often related to the use of catheters. To create a vaccine preventing UTI, immunogenic bacterial antigens with common epitopes are still being looked for. In this work, the role of polysaccharide antigens of four Klebsiella spp. and eight Proteus spp. strains in serological cross-reactions with specific antisera was examined. Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), Western blotting, and silver staining by Tsai method were performed. The Klebsiella and Proteus spp. LPSs and cells were used as antigens. Polyclonal rabbit sera specific to Klebsiella oxytoca 0.023 and 0.062 strains and four Klebsiella spp. LPSs were obtained. The ELISA and Western blotting results showed the strongest cross-reactions occurring between lipopolysaccharides (LPSs) from four Klebsiella strains and P. vulgaris O42 antiserum. The silver-staining procedure revealed the patterns typical of both slow- and fast-migrating mass species of the Klebsiella LPSs. The Klebsiella spp. antigens also cross-reacted with four P. penneri antisera, and most of the reactions were observed as low-migrating patterns. From two K. oxytoca antisera obtained in this work, only one, the K. oxytoca 0.062 antiserum, cross-reacted with satisfactory strength with P. penneri LPSs (19, 22, and 60). Obtaining cross-reactions between the antigens of Klebsiella strains and Proteus antisera and in the opposite systems is important for proving the immunogenic role of polysaccharide antigens in triggering the immunological response.
Highlights
Klebsiella and Proteus genera were described in the same year, 1985 (O’Hara et al, 2000; Brisse et al, 2006)
Scientists are still looking for immunogenic bacterial antigens, which may be used for the construction of a vaccine, e.g., MrpH and Proteus toxic agglutinin (Pta) in the case of P. mirabilis or capsule polysaccharides (CPS) in the case of K. pneumonia (Brisse et al, 2006; Schaffer and Pearson, 2015; Drzewiecka and Lewandowska, 2016)
The structural similarities observed for the lipopolysaccharide (LPS) core and the Opolysaccharide (OPS) regions of both species led to a question whether these antigens could contribute to the cross-reactions between Proteus antisera and Klebsiella spp. cells (Vinogradov et al, 2002; Regué et al, 2005; Knirel et al, 2011)
Summary
Klebsiella and Proteus genera were described in the same year, 1985 (O’Hara et al, 2000; Brisse et al, 2006). Within Proteus spp., P. mirabilis are the most common cause of infections; the isolation frequency of P. penneri and P. vulgaris has recently been on the increase (Brisse et al, 2006; Palusiak, 2013) These pathogens colonize the human intestinal tract, and in peculiar conditions, they trigger the infections, especially of the urinary tract (UTIs) and. UTIs caused by both pathogens are often difficult to treat because of the complications, i.e., biofilm development or bacteremia and the increasing multiresistance of the bacteria to antibiotics, especially nitrofurantoin (Macleod and Stickler, 2007; Cuevas et al, 2010; Schaffer and Pearson, 2015; Wu and Li, 2015) This situation requires searching for the ways of protection against the K. pneumonia and P. mirabilis infections. More cross-reactions between the antigens of four Klebsiella spp. strains and Proteus antisera were obtained, which is very important for proving the immunogenic role of polysaccharide antigens in triggering the immunological response
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