Giacani Lorenzo, Sambri Vittorio, Marangoni Antonella, Cavrini Francesca, Storni Elisa, Donati Manuela, Corona Silvia, Lanzarini Paolo, Cevenini Roberto
Dipartimento di Medicina Clinica, Specialistica e Sperimentale, Sezione di Microbiologia, Policlinico S. Orsola-Malpighi, via Massarenti 9, 40138 Bologna, Italy.
Infect Immun. 2005 Jun;73(6):3817-22. doi: 10.1128/IAI.73.6.3817-3822.2005.
The TprI antigen of Treponema pallidum subsp. pallidum is a putative virulence factor predicted to be located in the outer membrane of the syphilis spirochete. In this study, we analyzed the immune response against TprI and its subunits in sera collected both from rabbits experimentally infected with the Nichols strain and from patients with syphilis, showing a different pattern of reactivity toward the antigen in these two groups of samples. The protective ability of recombinant TprI and its hypothetical outer membrane location were also investigated. Although no rabbit was protected after challenge, immunoelectron microscopy results, to be further investigated, were compatible with the outer membrane location of the antigen.
梅毒螺旋体亚种苍白亚种的TprI抗原是一种推测的毒力因子,预计位于梅毒螺旋体的外膜中。在本研究中,我们分析了从实验感染Nichols菌株的兔子和梅毒患者采集的血清中针对TprI及其亚基的免疫反应,结果显示这两组样本对该抗原的反应模式不同。我们还研究了重组TprI的保护能力及其假定的外膜定位。尽管攻击后没有兔子得到保护,但有待进一步研究的免疫电子显微镜结果与该抗原的外膜定位相符。