Tyrosine-phosphorylated Ehrlichia chaffeensis and Ehrlichia canis tandem repeat orthologs contain a major continuous cross-reactive antibody epitope in lysine-rich repeats.

ABSTRACT: A small subset of major immunoreactive proteins have been identified in Ehrlichia chaffeensis and Ehrlichia canis, including three molecularly and immunologically characterized pairs of immunoreactive tandem repeat protein (TRP) orthologs with major continuous species-specific epitopes within acidic tandem repeats (TR) that stimulate strong antibody responses during infection. In this study, we identified a fourth major immunoreactive TR-containing ortholog pair and defined a major cross-reactive epitope in homologous nonidentical 24-amino-acid lysine-rich TRs. Antibodies from patients and dogs with ehrlichiosis reacted strongly with recombinant TR regions, and epitopes were mapped to the N-terminal TR region (18 amino acids) in E. chaffeensis and the complete TR (24 amino acids) in E. can

SUBMITTER: McBride JW 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3147547 | biostudies-literature | 2011 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature