IAI FigSearch
Home Help [Feedback] [For Subscribers] [Archive] [Search] [Contents]
This Article
Right arrow Full Text
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrowReprints and Permissions
Right arrow Copyright Information
Right arrow Books from ASM Press
Right arrow MicrobeWorld
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via HighWire
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Casolini, F.
Right arrow Articles by Speziale, P.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Casolini, F.
Right arrow Articles by Speziale, P.

 Previous Article  |  Next Article 

Infection and Immunity, November 1998, p. 5433-5442, Vol. 66, No. 11
0019-9567/98/$04.00+0
Copyright © 1998, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.

Antibody Response to Fibronectin-Binding Adhesin FnbpA in Patients with Staphylococcus aureus Infections

Fabrizia Casolini,1 Livia Visai,1 Danny Joh,2 Pier Giulio Conaldi,3 Antonio Toniolo,3 Magnus Höök,2 and Pietro Speziale1,*

Department of Biochemistry, University of Pavia, 27100 Pavia,1 and Department of Clinical and Biological Sciences, University of Pavia, 21100 Varese,3 Italy, and Center for Extracellular Matrix Biology, Institute of Biosciences and Technology, Texas A&M University, Houston, Texas 770302

Received 24 August 1998/Accepted 3 September 1998

We have analyzed antibody reactivity to a fibronectin-binding microbial surface component that recognizes adhesive matrix molecules (MSCRAMM) in blood plasma collected from patients with staphylococcal infections. All patients had elevated levels of anti-MSCRAMM antibodies compared to those of young children who, presumably, had not been exposed to staphylococcal infections. The anti-MSCRAMM antibodies preferentially reacted with the ligand-binding repeat domain of the adhesin. However, these antibodies did not inhibit fibronectin binding. Essentially, all patients had antibodies which specifically recognized the fibronectin-MSCRAMM complex but not the isolated components. Epitopes recognized by these anti-ligand-induced binding sites antibodies were found in each repeat unit of the MSCRAMM. These results demonstrate that staphylococci have bound fibronectin some time during infection and that each repeat unit in the MSCRAMM can engage in ligand binding. Furthermore, our previously proposed model, suggesting that an unordered structure in the MSCRAMM undergoes a conformational change upon ligand binding (K. House-Pompeo, Y. Xu, D. Joh, P. Speziale, and M. Höök, J. Biol. Chem. 271:1379-1384, 1996), is presumably operational in patients during infections.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Department of Biochemistry, University of Pavia, Viale Taramelli 3/B, 27100 Pavia, Italy. Phone: 39 382-507 787. Fax: 39 382-423 108. E-mail: pspeziale{at}ipv36.unipv.it.

Infection and Immunity, November 1998, p. 5433-5442, Vol. 66, No. 11
0019-9567/98/$04.00+0
Copyright © 1998, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.


This article has been cited by other articles:



Home Help [Feedback] [For Subscribers] [Archive] [Search] [Contents]
J. Bacteriol. J. Virol. Eukaryot. Cell
Microbiol. Mol. Biol. Rev. Clin. Vaccine Immunol. All ASM Journals

Copyright © 1998 by the American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.