K88 fimbrial antigens: identification of antigenic determinants by the use of synthetic peptides.

Identification of antigenic determinants of K88 fimbriae was approached by immunization of rabbits with BSA conjugated synthetic peptides mimicking either a predicted common determinant or type specific determinants. Anti-peptide sera were assayed by ELISA and sandwich ELISA. It was shown that sera raised against the peptides corresponding to the K88ab and K88ad variants of the 213-219 segment were able to recognize the corresponding antigenic variant of the native fimbriae whereas the rest of the antisera did not to any significant degree react with intact fimbriae. In Western blots all anti-peptide sera were able to recognize the K88 proteins. Similarly in ELISA assays all raised sera showed affinity to denatured K88 proteins.