Antigenicity and antigenic cross-reactivity of outer membrane proteins of Vibrio parahaemolyticus.

Antigenicity of outer membrane proteins was studied and compared between Kanagawa positive (clinical) and negative (environmental) strains of Vibrio parahaemolyticus. Murine antibodies recognized a wide range of outer membrane proteins of Kanagawa negative strains as antigens with molecular masses ranging between 102 kDa to 14 kDa. However, only a few of the total outer membrane proteins of clinical isolates were antigenic and comprised a 55kDa protein as the major antigen. Although a marked difference in antigenicity was found, molecular masses of outer membrane proteins of Kanagawa positive and negative strains migrated similarly in SDS-PAGE. Several outer membrane proteins of Kanagawa-positive strains were found to be antigenic and ubiquitous in a cross-reactivity study indicating that the ubiquitous proteins which could not be recognized by anti-KP antibodies were buried in the outer membrane.