Peptides 14VIDLL18 and 96FEAAAL101 defined as epitopes of antibodies raised against amino acid sequences of enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli colonization factor antigen I fused to Salmonella flagellin.

Antibodies raised against four hybrid Salmonella flagellins carrying amino acid sequences derived from the fimbrial subunit of the colonization factor I antigen (CFA/I) of enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli (ETEC), i.e. hybrid flagellins Fla I (aa 1-15), Fla II (aa 11-25), Fla III (aa 32-45) and Fla IV (aa 88-102), were not able to inhibit the in vitro binding of CFA/I-expressing ETEC bacteria to enterocyte-like Caco-2 cells. However, one of the hybrid flagellins (Fla II) was recognized by a previously described anti-CFA/I subunit mAb (S-CFA/I 17:8) which was able to block adhesion of CFA/I-expressing bacteria to Caco-2 cells and to bind to the amino acid sequences 15IDLLQ19 of the CFA/I fimbrial subunit. Pepscan analysis of antibodies raised against the hybrid flagellins Fla II and Fla IV showed that they were specific for the sequences 14VIDLL18 and 96FEAAAL101, respectively, of the CFA/I fimbrial subunit. Thus, the discrepancy in the abilities of the anti-Fla II serum and the mAb S-CFA/I 17:8 to block binding might be ascribed to their slightly different fine specificity for epitopes.