In Vivo-induced Antigen Technology Research Articles

In vivo induced antigenic determinants ofActinobacillus actinomycetemcomitans

Actinobacillus actinomycetemcomitans is a Gram-negative capnophilic rod and the etiological agent of localized aggressive periodontitis. The genome-wide survey of A. actinomycetemcomitans using in vivo induced antigen technology (IVIAT) has previously resulted in the discovery of antigenic determinants expressed specifically in diseased patients. The present study evaluated the potential of these antigens as putative disease markers, and investigating their contribution to the pathogenesis of the microorganism. Sera from patients had a significantly greater antibody titer than sera from healthy controls against six antigens, which supports the in vivo expression of these antigens, and suggests their usefulness as disease markers. A. actinomycetemcomitans invasion of epithelium-derived HeLa cells resulted in the induction of all three genes tested, as evidenced by real-time PCR. Isogenic mutants of these three genes were constructed and the adhesion and intracellular survival of the mutants was assayed in a competition assay with the wild-type strain. A significant defect in the intracellular survival of two of these mutant strains (orf1402 and orf859) was found. This defect could not be attributed to an adhesion defect. In contrast, a mutation in vapA, a homologue of a novel putative transcriptional regulator, out-competed the wild-type strain in the same assay. The virulent phenotype was restored for a mutant strain in orf859 upon complementation. This data provided new insight into the pathogenic personality of A. actinomycetemcomitans in vivo and supported the use of HeLa cells as a valid in vitro host–pathogen interactions model for that microorganism. IVIAT is applicable to most pathogens and will undoubtedly lead to the discovery of novel therapies, antibiotics and diagnostic tools.

In vivo induced antigenic determinants of Actinobacillus actinomycetemcomitans

Actinobacillus actinomycetemcomitans is a Gram-negative capnophilic rod and the etiological agent of localized aggressive periodontitis. The genome-wide survey of A. actinomycetemcomitans using in vivo induced antigen technology (IVIAT) has previously resulted in the discovery of antigenic determinants expressed specifically in diseased patients. The present study evaluated the potential of these antigens as putative disease markers, and investigating their contribution to the pathogenesis of the microorganism. Sera from patients had a significantly greater antibody titer than sera from healthy controls against six antigens, which supports the in vivo expression of these antigens, and suggests their usefulness as disease markers. A. actinomycetemcomitans invasion of epithelium-derived HeLa cells resulted in the induction of all three genes tested, as evidenced by real-time PCR. Isogenic mutants of these three genes were constructed and the adhesion and intracellular survival of the mutants was assayed in a competition assay with the wild-type strain. A significant defect in the intracellular survival of two of these mutant strains ( orf1402 and orf859) was found. This defect could not be attributed to an adhesion defect. In contrast, a mutation in vapA, a homologue of a novel putative transcriptional regulator, out-competed the wild-type strain in the same assay. The virulent phenotype was restored for a mutant strain in orf859 upon complementation. This data provided new insight into the pathogenic personality of A. actinomycetemcomitans in vivo and supported the use of HeLa cells as a valid in vitro host–pathogen interactions model for that microorganism. IVIAT is applicable to most pathogens and will undoubtedly lead to the discovery of novel therapies, antibiotics and diagnostic tools.

Characterization and pathogenic significance of Vibrio vulnificus antigens preferentially expressed in septicemic patients.

Many important virulence genes of pathogenic bacteria are preferentially expressed in vivo. We used the recently developed in vivo-induced antigen technology (IVIAT) to identify Vibrio vulnificus genes induced in vivo. An expression library of V. vulnificus was screened by colony blot analysis by using pooled convalescent-phase serum that had been thoroughly adsorbed with in vitro-expressed V. vulnificus whole cells and lysates. Twelve clones were selected, and the sequences of the insert DNAs were analyzed. The DNA sequences showed homologies with genes encoding proteins of diverse functions: these functions included chemotaxis (a methyl-accepting chemotaxis protein), signaling (a GGDEF-containing protein and a putative serine/threonine kinase), biosynthesis and metabolism (PyrH, PurH, and IlvC), secretion (TatB and plasmid Achromobacter secretion [PAS] factor), transcriptional activation (IlvY and HlyU), and the activity of a putative lipoprotein (YaeC). In addition, one identified open reading frame encoded a hypothetical protein. Isogenic mutants of the 12 in vivo-expressed (ive) genes were constructed and tested for cytotoxicity. Cytotoxic activity of the mutant strains, as measured by lactate dehydrogenase release from HeLa cells, was nearly abolished in pyrH, purH, and hlyU mutants. The intraperitoneal 50% lethal dose in mice increased by ca. 10- to 50-fold in these three mutants. PyrH and PurH seem to be essential for in vivo growth. HlyU appears to be one of the master regulators of in vivo virulence expression. The successful identification of ive genes responsible for the in vivo bacterial virulence, as done in the present study, demonstrates the usefulness of IVIAT for the detection of new virulence genes.

Genes of Periodontopathogens Expressed During Human Disease

Since many bacterial genes are environmentally regulated, the screening for virulence-associated factors using classical genetic and molecular biology approaches can be biased under laboratory growth conditions of a given pathogen, because the required conditions for expression of many virulence factors may not occur during in vitro growth. Thus, technologies have been developed during the past several years to identify genes that are expressed during disease using animal models of human disease. However, animal models are not always truly representative of human disease, and with many pathogens, there is no appropriate animal model. A new technology, in vivo-induced antigen technology (IVIAT) was thus engineered and tested in our laboratory to screen for genes of pathogenic organisms induced specifically in humans, without the use of animal or artificial models of infection. This technology uses pooled sera from patients to probe for genes expressed exclusively in vivo (or ivi, in vivo-induced genes). IVIAT was originally designed for the study of Actinobacillus actinomycetemcomitans pathogenesis, but we have now extended it to other oral pathogens including Porphyromonas gingivalis. One hundred seventy-one thousand (171,000) clones from P. gingivalis strain W83 were screened and 144 were confirmed positive. Over 300,000 A. actinomycetemcomitans clones were probed, and 116 were confirmed positive using a quantitative blot assay. MAT has proven useful in identifying previously unknown in vivo-induced genes that are likely involved in virulence and are thus excellent candidates for use in diagnostic : and therapeutic strategies, including vaccine design.

Selective identification of new therapeutic targets of Mycobacterium tuberculosis by IVIAT approach

The in vivo induced antigen technology (IVIAT) 1 has been used for the identification of open reading frames (ORFs) which could be possible therapeutic targets. A recombinant λgt11:: Mycobacterium tuberculosis H37Rv expression library was screened with pooled TB patient sera preabsorbed with in vitro grown M. tuberculosis H37Rv. Preabsorption of pooled TB patient sera allowed identification of antigens specifically expressed or upregulated during infection and growth in vivo. Six ORFs were identified, of which four ( rv0287, rv2402, rv3878 and rv1045) were of hypothetical functions. Rv0287 is a probable regulatory protein. Rv3878 is present uniquely in M. tuberculosis H37Rv and is a part of RDI deletion region of M. bovis BCG, which includes esat 6 region. This could be exploited as a tool for diagnosis. Two ORFs were assigned function solely on the basis of homology, dnaQ ( rv3711c) and lpdA ( rv3303c). dnaQ codes for the epsilon subunit of DNA polymerase III, which is responsible for the proofreading activity of the complex. lpdA codes for dihydrolipoamide dehydrogenase, which is a part of many multienzyme complexes such as pyruvate dehydrogenase, keto-acid dehydrogenase and α-ketoglutarate dehydrogenase. These two enzymes appear to be potential targets for drug development.