This Article
Right arrow Full Text
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrowReprints and Permissions
Right arrow Copyright Information
Right arrow Books from ASM Press
Right arrow MicrobeWorld
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via HighWire
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Yu, J.-J.
Right arrow Articles by Cole, G. T.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Yu, J.-J.
Right arrow Articles by Cole, G. T.

 Previous Article  |  Next Article 

Journal of Clinical Microbiology, November 2005, p. 5462-5469, Vol. 43, No. 11
0095-1137/05/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/JCM.43.11.5462-5469.2005
Copyright © 2005, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Characterization of a Serodiagnostic Complement Fixation Antigen of Coccidioides posadasii Expressed in the Nonpathogenic Fungus Uncinocarpus reesii

J.-J. Yu,1 T. N. Kirkland,2* L. K. Hall,2 J. Wopschall,2 R. C. Smith,2 C.-Y. Hung,1 X. Chen,1,{dagger} E. Tarcha,1 P. W. Thomas,1,{ddagger} and G. T. Cole1

Department of Medical Microbiology and Immunology, Medical College of Ohio, Toledo, Ohio,1 Departments of Pathology and Medicine, Veterans Administration San Diego Healthcare System and University of California San Diego, San Diego, California2

Received 23 June 2005/ Returned for modification 1 August 2005/ Accepted 15 August 2005

Coccidioides spp. (immitis and posadasii) are the causative agents of human coccidioidomycosis. In this study, we developed a novel system to overexpress coccidioidal proteins in a nonpathogenic fungus, Uncinocarpus reesii, which is closely related to Coccidioides. A promoter derived from the heat shock protein gene (HSP60) of Coccidioides posadasii was used to control the transcription of the inserted gene in the constructed coccidioidal protein expression vector (pCE). The chitinase gene (CTS1) of C. posadasii, which encodes the complement fixation antigen, was expressed using this system. The recombinant Cts1 protein (rCts1Ur) was induced in pCE-CTS1-transformed U. reesii by elevating the cultivation temperature. The isolated rCts1Ur showed chitinolytic activity that was identical to that of the native protein and had serodiagnostic efficacy comparable to those of the commercially available antigens in immunodiffusion-complement fixation tests. Using the purified rCts1Ur, 74 out of the 77 coccidioidomycosis patients examined (96.1%) were positively identified by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. The rCts1Ur protein showed higher chitinolytic activity and slightly greater seroreactivity than the bacterially expressed recombinant Cts1. These data suggest that this novel expression system is a useful tool to produce coccidioidal antigens for use as diagnostic antigens.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: VASDHCS, 111F, 3350 La Jolla Village Dr., San Diego, CA 92161. Phone: (858) 552-7446. Fax: (858) 642-4398. E-mail: tkirkland{at}ucsd.edu.

{dagger} Present address: Department of Medicine, University of Wisconsin—Madison, Madison, WI 53705.

{ddagger} Present address: College of Pharmacy, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX 78758.

Journal of Clinical Microbiology, November 2005, p. 5462-5469, Vol. 43, No. 11
0095-1137/05/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/JCM.43.11.5462-5469.2005
Copyright © 2005, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.



This article has been cited by other articles:

  • Tarcha, E. J., Basrur, V., Hung, C.-Y., Gardner, M. J., Cole, G. T. (2006). Multivalent Recombinant Protein Vaccine against Coccidioidomycosis.. Infect. Immun. 74: 5802-5813 [Abstract] [Full Text]  


Copyright © 2009 by the American Society for Microbiology.   For an alternate route to Journals.ASM.org, visit: http://intl-journals.asm.org | More Info»