Group A streptococcus expresses a trio of surface proteins containing protective epitopes.

ABSTRACT: Group A streptococci (GAS) (Streptococcus pyogenes) are common causes of infections in humans for which there is no licensed vaccine. Decades of work has focused on the role of the surface M protein in eliciting type-specific protective immunity. Recent studies have identified additional surface proteins of GAS that contain opsonic epitopes. In the present study, we describe a serotype M65 GAS originally isolated during an epidemiologic study in Bamako, Mali, which simultaneously expressed M, M-related protein (Mrp), and streptococcal protective antigen (Spa) on the bacterial surface. The emm, mrp, and spa genes were sequenced from PCR amplicons derived from the M65 chromosome. Rabbit antisera raised against synthetic peptides copying the N-terminal regions of M, Mrp, and Spa were highly s

SUBMITTER: Niedermeyer SE 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4266352 | biostudies-literature | 2014 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature