A monoclonal antibody that conveys in vitro killing and partial protection in experimental syphilis binds a phosphorylcholine surface epitope of Treponema pallidum.

ABSTRACT: Immunization with purified Treponema pallidum outer membrane vesicles (OMV) has previously resulted in high-titer complement-dependent serum bactericidal activity. In this study, OMV immunization resulted in the isolation of a monoclonal antibody, M131, with complement-dependent killing activity. Passive immunization of rabbits with M131 administered intravenously conferred significant immunity demonstrated by the failure of syphilitic lesions to appear at 29% of intradermal challenge sites (7/24) and a mean delay of approximately 8 days to lesion appearance at the remaining sites (17/24). M131 not only bound to OMV and to the surfaces of intact motile T. pallidum cells but also bound to organisms whose outer membranes were removed, indicating both surface and subsurface locations for the

SUBMITTER: Blanco DR 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC1087381 | biostudies-literature | 2005 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature