Chemistry: molecular biology and microbiology – Measuring or testing process involving enzymes or... – Involving antigen-antibody binding – specific binding protein...
Patent
1997-09-26
2000-11-14
Swartz, Rodney P.
Chemistry: molecular biology and microbiology
Measuring or testing process involving enzymes or...
Involving antigen-antibody binding, specific binding protein...
4242631, 435 4, 435 71, 530384, G01N 33571, C12Q 100, A61K 39118, A61K 3514
Patent
active
061468398
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to Chlamydia pneumoniae antigens useful for diagnosis of Chlamydia pneumoniae infections, methods for production of the antigens, methods and reagents for measurement of anti-Chlamydia pneumoniae antibodies using the antigens.
BACKGROUND ART
Chlamydia are obligate intracellular parasites that are capable of surviving only in a host cell. Its growth cycle is unique, and the elementary body (hereinafter referred to as EB) of Chlamydia that is morphologically outside of the cell is taken up into the cell to form a vacuole inclusion body, which is then converted to a reticulate body (hereinafter referred to as RB). RB owns a propagating capability but lacks an infecting capability and the RB that has propagated in the cell is soon converted to an EB, which by breaking the inclusion body and disrupting the cell wall, comes out of the cell. EB lacks a propagating capability but owns an infecting capability. Currently there are confirmed four kinds of Chlamydia species (C. trachomatis, C. psittaci, C. pneumoniae, and C. pecorum), among which Chlamydia pneumoniae is known to infect humans via air infection.
In recent years, Chlamydia pneumoniae has attracted widespread attention as the causative microorganism of respiratory infections such as pneumonia, bronchitis, acute upper airway inflammation and the like. According to the serological epidemiological study conducted in various parts of the world, the prevalence of the antibody against Chlamydia pneumoniae is 40 to 50% in Europe and the USA, 60% or greater in Taiwan, Panama, Iran and the like, and 50 to 60% in Japan. As the actual situations on Chlamydia pneumoniae infections become more apparent, interests in the infections are mounting.
The most sensitive serological method for diagnosis of Chlamydia infections is the indirect microimmunofluorescence test (micro-IF test) by Wang and Grayston (Trachoma and related disorders caused by Chlamydial agents, Excerpta Medica, Amsterdam, pp.273-288, 1971). However, since the test procedure of the micro-IF test is complicated, it has not been employed as a diagnostic method in the clinical laboratories. Furthermore, the standard micro-IF test requires the purified EB of Chlamydia. The micro-IF test also requires the morphological and structural integrity of the microorganism to be identified in order to carry out the immunological fluorescent reactions. Hence the morphologically or structurally altered EB or the disrupted EB cannot be used. However, since EB has an infectious capability and toxicity, the use of an intact EB as the antigen material requires a special facility which has been rendered infection-defense. Therefore, the EB treated with a fixing agent such as formaldehyde, acetone and the like is usually used as the antigen.
On the other hand, the recently developed enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) has an advantage that it can process a large number of samples in a simple and rapid manner. There are reports on the methods for measurement of anti-Chlamydia antibody using the ELISA, and most of the methods employ the intact EB of Chlamydia as the antigen material. Therefore, the presence of non-specific reactions is known which result from the use of an inadequately purified antigen. This is caused largely by the complex antigenicity of Chlamydia. As the antigenicity of Chlamydia, it has been believed, there are the genus-specific antigens, the species-specific antigens, and the biobar-specific antigens.
As a representative genus-specific antigen of Chlamydia, there is known lipopolysaccharide (hereinafter referred to as LPS), which has a common antigen shared by the Re mutant LPS derived from some enterobacteria.
Furthermore, as a representative species-specific or biobar-specific antigen, there is known the Major Outer Membrane Protein of Chlamydia (hereinafter referred to as MOMP), which is considered to occupy approximately 60% of the outer membrane proteins of Chlamydia. However, the presence of the genus-specific antigenicity is also known
REFERENCES:
Iljima et al "Characterization of Chlamydia pneumoniae species-specific proteins immunodominant in humans". J. Clin. Microbiol., vol. 32, No. 3, pp. 583-588, Mar. 1, 1994.
Campbell et al., "Serological Response to Chlamydia Pneumoniae Infection", J. of Clin. Microbio., 28(6):1261-1264, 1990.
Iguchi Akifumi
Izutsu Hiroshi
Kawagoe Kiyotaka
Morikawa Toshihide
Yamaki Mitsuo
Hitachi Chemical Company Ltd.
Swartz Rodney P.
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