Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
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Query: EC:3.4.21.64 (proteinase K)
 4,071 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

A study was conducted to determine whether subcomponent proteins (previously identified as BCSP20, BCSP31, and BCSP45, and the corresponding recombinant proteins rBCSP20, rBCSP31, and rBCSP45) that were recovered from the cell surface of Brucella abortus strain 19 were immunogenic and protective for mice when compared with Brucella cell surface protein (BCSP) and with a proteinase K-treated lipopolysaccharide (PKLPS) extracted from B abortus strain 2308. Protection was evaluated after challenge exposure with a virulent culture of B abortus strain 2308, using CD-1 or BALB/c mice or both inoculated with vaccines of various combinations and concentrations, with and without PKLPS or BCSP. Protection was assessed by enumeration of splenic colony-forming units, reduced mean splenic weight relative to controls, and the relative serologic responses (immune response) in an ELISA. The general results indicate that BCSP, PKLPS, BCSP20, and BCSP31 are immunogenic or protective or both. Protectiveness was not observed for each of the recombinant proteins; however, results from the combined recombinant protein vaccine study suggest the immunogenicity of the recombinant proteins. The apparent immune-inducing properties of BCSP20 and BCSP31 are thought to be attributable to the presence of an immunogenic and protective BCSP fraction (possibly lipopolysaccharide) still associated. Serologic results support our conclusion that each of the recombinant protein vaccines did not induce a protective response comparable to that of BCSP or PKLPS, even when the subcomponents were combined. Although the results suggest that the subcomponents of BCSP apparently induced partial protection, they are thought to be only a part of the antigens contained in BCSP that influence the serologic response.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
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PMID:Immunogenicity of Brucella-extracted and recombinant protein vaccines in CD-1 and BALB/c mice. 211 44

Smooth (S)-lipopolysaccharide (LPS) preparations from reference and field strains of several biovars of Brucella abortus, B. melitensis, and B. suis were prepared by (i) the hot phenol-water method, (ii) hot sodium dodecyl sulfate extraction and proteinase K digestion, or (iii) dimethyl sulfoxide extraction. These S-LPS-enriched fractions were further analyzed by sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis and silver staining after periodate oxidation. Immunoblots were developed by using either monoclonal antibodies specific for Brucella A or M antigens or polyclonal polyspecific or monospecific sera from rabbits, cattle, and goats. The specificity of monoclonal antibodies reactive with Brucella unique (A or M) epitopes was demonstrated by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, LPS latex agglutination, or agglutination inhibition. The most-represented subunits of S-LPS ranged in Mr from 30,000 to 70,000 relative to marker proteins. According to A or M immunodominance, two sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis banding patterns were clearly distinguished among biovars, whatever the fraction tested: a close succession of regularly spaced narrow bands for A greater than M strains and regularly spaced triplets of bands including either (i) a first thin band followed by two thick bands for B. abortus M greater than A strains or (ii) one thick band between two thin bands for B. melitensis or B. suis M greater than A strains. Moreover, A and M specificities were reaffirmed by sandwich enzyme immunoassay and latex agglutination inhibition with monoclonal antibodies and polyclonal sera.
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PMID:Sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis and immunoblotting analysis of smooth-lipopolysaccharide heterogeneity among Brucella biovars related to A and M specificities. 222 39

Lipopolysaccharide (LPS) fractions were obtained from smooth cultures of Brucella abortus strains 2308 and S-19 by butanol extraction procedures. The LPS from the initial butanol extraction contained 10 to 15% protein and was reduced to less than 1% protein by treatment with proteinase K. The LPS fractions were identified and characterized on the basis of the chemical analysis, sodium dodecyl sulfate gel electrophoresis, cesium chloride gradients, electron microscopy, and gel immunodiffusion. Results indicated that the butanol procedure is a reliable method in the extraction of LPS from Brucella abortus cells. Proteinase K-treated LPS containing less than 1% protein from strain 2308 was used to vaccinate BALB/cByJ mice. Immune and protective criteria for vaccinated and nonvaccinated mice were increased immunoglobulin (IgG and IgM) titers in sera of prechallenge-exposed mice, reduced colony-forming units/spleen, and splenomegaly in post-challenge-exposed mice. Results indicated that proteinase K-treated LPS was immunogenic as well as protective for mice.
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PMID:Chemical and protective properties of Brucella lipopolysaccharide obtained by butanol extraction. 249 11

A study was conducted to compare immunogenicity of a Brucella abortus lipopolysaccharide (LPS) and the duration of infection in 5 strains of mice. Mice of strains CBA/NJ, BALB/c, CD-1, C3H/HeN, and C3H/HeJ were allotted into 2 large groups (vaccinated with proteinase K-treated LPS or nonvaccinated) and 6 subgroups based on the intervals between challenge exposure to B abortus strain 2308 and the week the response data were obtained. Criteria used in comparing responses between the various strains of mice as well as between vaccinated and nonvaccinated mice were splenomegaly, colony-forming units (CFU) from spleens, and antibody titers. Responses were evaluated at 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, and 12 weeks after challenge exposure. Results indicated that all strains of mice became infected and maintained infection throughout the 12-week period, the percentages of mice infected were significantly (P less than 0.05) less in vaccinated mice for the first 5 weeks after challenge exposure, and there were no direct correlations between increased immunoglobulins (IgM and IgG titers) and reduction in CFU. Vaccinated mice of strains BALB/c, CD-1, C3H/HeN, and C3H/HeJ had increased titers when challenge exposed and also had significantly (P less than 0.05) smaller spleens and lower CFU. Vaccinated CBA/NJ mice did not have marked antibody titers. The overall results indicated that vaccination with LPS offers some initial protection against B abortus strain 2308 infection, but this protection disappears gradually and in various degrees in the 5 strains of mice studied.
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PMID:Duration of strain 2308 infection and immunogenicity of Brucella abortus lipopolysaccharide in five strains of mice. 249 12

Immunogenic or pathogenic factors of recombinant proteins (rBCSP20, rBCSP-31, and rBCSP45 of Brucella abortus strain 19) for mice were compared with factors of a proteinase K-treated lipopolysaccharide extracted from B abortus strain 2308. Mice were vaccinated with 4 products, using different inoculation schedules and were challenge exposed with a virulent culture of B abortus strain 2308. Blood samples were collected 2 weeks after vaccination and at necropsy and sera were obtained. Spleens were cultured for B abortus at necropsy (3 to 4 weeks after challenge exposure). Mice given proteinase K-treated lipopolysaccharide alone or in conjunction with rBCSP20 or rBCSP45 proteins were protected, but mice given rBCSP31 on the same day as challenge exposure were not. Vaccination with recombinant proteins alone neither provide protection nor significantly (P greater than 0.05) increase the pathogenic effect of the challenge-exposure culture. Seemingly, rBCSP31 might be a virulence factor of B abortus.
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PMID:Identification of a virulence factor for Brucella abortus infection in BALB/c mice. 250 86

When preparations containing smooth Brucella abortus lipopolysaccharide (LPS) were used as antigen in an ELISA, strong positive reactions were obtained with sera from sheep infected with Brucella melitensis or with Brucella ovis. Oxidation of the LPS with sodium metaperiodate greatly reduced the extent of the cross-reactions with antisera to B. ovis, with little effect on the reactions with antisera to smooth B. melitensis. Periodate oxidation of hot saline extract (HSX) antigen of B. ovis markedly reduced its reactivity in ELISA with anti-B. ovis sera and eliminated cross-reactivity with anti-B. melitensis sera. The reactivity of HSX was maintained after treatment with proteinase K. A simple ELISA system, in which replicate samples from a single serum dilution were tested in parallel against both B. ovis HSX antigen and periodate-oxidised smooth phase B. abortus LPS, was evaluated. It was found to discriminate well between antibodies induced by vaccination or virulent infection with B. melitensis strains and those induced by infection with B. ovis.
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PMID:Discrimination between sheep antibodies to Brucella melitensis and to Brucella ovis. 280 Mar 7

Afipia clevelandensis is a recently described gram-negative bacterium whose potential pathogenic role in human disease is under investigation. Only one strain, from the pretibial lesion of a patient hospitalized with necrotizing pancreatitis for 5 months, has been isolated. Using an indirect immunofluorescence assay to detect anti-A. clevelandensis antibodies, we found a seroprevalence of 1.5% among 30,194 sera routinely submitted for laboratory diagnosis of rickettsial diseases. However, among the 52 patients who were clinically evaluable and who exhibited detectable antibodies against A. clevelandensis, 42% were eventually diagnosed as certainly or probably having brucellosis and 15% were eventually diagnosed as certainly or probably having Yersinia enterocolitica O:9 infection, which is the serotype most often encountered in Europe. Western immunoblotting and cross-adsorption tests showed that an 11.5-kDa proteinase K-labile band and a 21-kDa proteinase-stable band, presumably lipopolysaccharide, were responsible for cross-reactivity among A. clevelandensis, Brucella abortus, and Y. enterocolitica O:9. Other diagnoses included nosocomial infections and various community-acquired diseases for which the role of A. clevelandensis remains undefined. Physicians and clinical microbiologists should be aware of this cross-reactivity in future assessments of the role of A. clevelandensis in human pathology.
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PMID:Afipia clevelandensis antibodies and cross-reactivity with Brucella spp. and Yersinia enterocolitica O:9. 938 2

Bovine brucellosis and leptospirosis are important causes of bovine abortion around the world. Both diseases can be serologically diagnosed, but many factors may cause false positive and negative results. Direct methods based on bacteriological isolation are usually employed, but they are difficult, time consuming and dangerous. Monoplex polymerase chain reaction (PCR) have been successfully described for the detection of Brucella spp. and Leptospira spp. Aiming at improvement in the direct diagnosis, a multiplex PCR (mPCR) for the detection of these agents in aborted bovine fetuses is described. The detection threshold of the mPCR was evaluated in experimentally contaminated bovine clinical samples using a conventional proteinase K/SDS or a boiling-based extraction protocols. The mPCR was applied to two groups of clinical samples: 63 episodes of bovine abortion and eight hamsters experimentally infected with Leptospira interrogans serovar pomona. Adopting microbiological isolation as reference, the test showed a sensitivity of 100% in both groups of clinical samples. Seven samples collected from bovine fetuses were Brucella spp. culture negative but showed positive results in mPCR. Regarding Leptospira spp. detection, similar results were observed in three bovine clinical samples. All hamsters infected with Leptospira were positive in both microbiological culture and mPCR. The boiling extraction protocol showed better results in some clinical samples, probably by the removal of PCR inhibitors by heat treatment. The high sensitivity, simplicity and the possibility of detection of both bacteria in a single tube reaction support the use of the mPCR described in the routine diagnosis.
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PMID:A multiplex PCR for the detection of Brucella spp. and Leptospira spp. DNA from aborted bovine fetuses. 1203 42

Brucella is a Gram-negative facultative bacterium that persists intracellularly in macrophages. However, the intracellular survival mechanisms used by Brucella are not fully understood. Isolation of Brucella RNA from infected macrophages has been challenging, and the inability to isolate sufficient Brucella RNA from infected macrophages has contributed to the failure in understanding bacterial transcriptional events. We describe the isolation of sufficient Brucella abortus RNA from its infective host cell environment using osmotic lysis and RNase and DNase digestion. This method takes advantage of the B. abortus cell envelope that protects bacterial RNA and DNA. The cell envelope of B. abortus was digested using SDS/proteinase K (PK) that, importantly, inhibits any residual RNase after digesting macrophage RNA permitting the extraction of B. abortus RNA. In our experiments, 4.5 microg of RNA was routinely isolated from 1 ml bacterial culture and 2-9 microg of bacterial RNA from infected macrophages without detectable host cell RNA or DNA contamination. The method is rapid and uses inexpensive, commonly available reagents. Total bacterial RNA was isolated in quantities sufficient for RT-PCR and microarray analysis.
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PMID:Isolation of Brucella abortus total RNA from B. abortus-infected murine RAW macrophages. 1564 40

This study compared 4 protocols for DNA extraction from homogenates of 6 different organs of cows infected with the Brucella abortus 2308 strain. The extraction protocols compared were as follows: GT (guanidine isothiocyanate lysis), Boom (GT lysis with the carrying suspension diatomaceous earth), PK (proteinase K lysis), and Santos (lysis by boiling and freezing with liquid nitrogen). Positive and negative gold standard reference groups were generated by classical bacteriological methods. All samples were processed with the 4 DNA extraction protocols and amplified with the B4 and B5 primers. The number of positive samples in the placental cotyledons was higher than that in the other organs. The cumulated results showed that the Santos protocol was more sensitive than the Boom (p=0.003) and GT (p=0.0506) methods and was similar to the PK method (p=0.2969). All of the DNA extraction protocols resulted in false-negative results for PCR. In conclusion, despite the disadvantages of classical bacteriological methods, the best approach for direct diagnosis of B. abortus in organs of infected cows includes the isolation associated with PCR of DNA extracted from the cotyledon by the Santos or PK methods.
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PMID:Evaluation of four DNA extraction protocols for Brucella abortus detection by PCR in tissues from experimentally infected cows with the 2308 strain. 2342 81


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