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Infection and Immunity, December 2005, p. 7906-7913, Vol. 73, No. 12
0019-9567/05/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/IAI.73.12.7906-7913.2005
Copyright © 2005, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Carbohydrate Moieties of Microsporidian Polar Tube Proteins Are Targeted by Immunoglobulin G in Immunocompetent Individuals

Ron Peek,1* Frédéric Delbac,2 Dave Speijer,3 Valérie Polonais,2 Sophie Greve,1 Ellen Wentink-Bonnema,1 Jeffrey Ringrose,4 and Tom van Gool1,5

Section Parasitology, Department of Medical Microbiology, Academic Medical Center, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands,1 Equipe Parasitologie Moléculaire et Cellulaire, Laboratoire Biologie des Protistes, UMR CNRS 6023, Université Blaise Pascal, 63177 Aubière Cedex, France,2 Department of Medical Biochemistry, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands,3 Department of Human Retrovirology, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands,4 Department of Parasitology, Harbour Hospital, Rotterdam, The Netherlands5

Received 18 April 2005/ Returned for modification 19 May 2005/ Accepted 10 August 2005

Microsporidia of the Encephalitozoon species are frequently found as opportunistic pathogens of immunocompromised patients, but very little is known about the prevalence and significance of Encephalitozoon infection in immunocompetent individuals. It was reported previously that 8% of Dutch blood donors and 5% of pregnant French women had an immunoglobulin G (IgG) immune response against specific organelles of Encephalitozoon intestinalis. These organelles, the so-called polar tube and anchoring disk, are used to penetrate membranes of host cells during infection. The unexpectedly high percentage of immunocompetent individuals with IgG against these organelles suggested that infection of humans with microsporidia might be more common than previously recognized. In the present study, we analyzed this anti-Encephalitozoon IgG response by using indirect immunofluorescence, Western blotting, two-dimensional gel electrophoresis, and chemical deglycosylation. Our results show that the antibody response is directed against the posttranslational carbohydrate modification of the major polar tube protein (polar tube protein 1) and carbohydrate moieties of proteins in the anchoring region of the polar tube of Encephalitozoon. In addition, the antibodies were found to decrease the infectivity of E. intestinalis in vitro. The significance and possible origin of these prevalent antibodies are discussed.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Section Parasitology, Department of Medical Microbiology, University of Amsterdam, Meibergdreef 9, 1105 AZ Amsterdam, The Netherlands. Phone: 31-20-5665466. Fax: 31-20-5669207. E-mail: r.peek{at}amc.uva.nl.

Editor: J. F. Urban, Jr.

Infection and Immunity, December 2005, p. 7906-7913, Vol. 73, No. 12
0019-9567/05/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/IAI.73.12.7906-7913.2005
Copyright © 2005, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.



This article has been cited by other articles:

  • Omura, M., Furuya, K., Kudo, S., Sugiura, W., Azuma, H. (2007). Detecting Immunoglobulin M Antibodies against Microsporidian Encephalitozoon cuniculi Polar Tubes in Sera from Healthy and Human Immunodeficiency Virus-Infected Persons in Japan. CVI 14: 168-172 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Taupin, V., Garenaux, E., Mazet, M., Maes, E., Denise, H., Prensier, G., Vivares, C. P., Guerardel, Y., Metenier, G. (2007). Major O-glycans in the spores of two microsporidian parasites are represented by unbranched manno-oligosaccharides containing {alpha}-1,2 linkages. Glycobiology 17: 56-67 [Abstract] [Full Text]  


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