In Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb), surface-exposed Lipoarabinomannan (LAM) is a key determinant... more In Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb), surface-exposed Lipoarabinomannan (LAM) is a key determinant of immunogenicity, yet its intrinsic heterogeneity confounds typical structure–function analysis. Recently, LAM gained a strong foothold as a validated marker for active tuberculosis (TB) infection and has shown great potential in new diagnostic efforts. However, no efforts have yet been made to model or evaluate the impact of mixed polyclonal Mtb infections (infection with multiple strains) on TB diagnostic procedures other than antibiotic susceptibility testing. Here, we selected three TB clinical isolates (HN878, EAI, and IO) and purified LAM from these strains to present an integrated analytical approach of one-dimensional and two-dimensional Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) spectroscopy, as well as enzymatic digestion and site-specific mass spectrometry (MS) to probe LAM structure and behavior at multiple levels. Overall, we found that the glycan was similar in all LAM preparations, albeit with subtle variations. Succinates, lactates, hydroxybutyrate, acetate, and the hallmark of Mtb LAM-methylthioxylose (MTX), adorned the nonreducing terminal arabinan of these LAM species. Newly identified acetoxy/hydroxybutyrate was present only in LAM from EAI and IO Mtb strains. Notably, detailed LC/MS-MS unambiguously showed that all acyl modifications and the lactyl ether in LAM are at the 3-OH position of the 2-linked arabinofuranose adjacent to the terminal β-arabinofuranose. Finally, after sequential enzymatic deglycosylation of LAM, the residual glycan that has ∼50% of α−arabinofuranose -(1→5) linked did not bind to monoclonal antibody CS35. These data clearly indicate the importance of the arabinan termini arrangements for the antigenicity of LAM.
Mycobacteria synthesize intracellular, 6--methylglucose-containing lipopolysaccharides (mGLPs) pr... more Mycobacteria synthesize intracellular, 6--methylglucose-containing lipopolysaccharides (mGLPs) proposed to modulate bacterial fatty acid metabolism. Recently, it has been shown that mGLP specifically induces a specific subset of protective γδ T cells. Mild base treatment, which removes all the base-labile groups, reduces the specific activity of mGLP required for induction of these T cells, suggesting that acylation of the saccharide moieties is required for γδ T-cell activation. On the basis of this premise, we used analytical LC/MS and NMR methods to identify and locate the acyl functions on the mGLP saccharides. We found that mGLP is heterogeneous with respect to acyl functions and contains acetyl, isobutyryl, succinyl, and octanoyl groups and that all acylations in mGLP, except for succinyl and octanoyl residues, reside on the glucosyl residues immediately following the terminal 3--methylglucose. Our analyses also indicated that the octanoyl residue resides at position 2 of an i...
γ9δ2 T cells provide a natural bridge between innate and adaptive immunity, rapidly and potently ... more γ9δ2 T cells provide a natural bridge between innate and adaptive immunity, rapidly and potently respond to pathogen infection in mucosal tissues, and are prominently induced by both tuberculosis (TB) infection and bacillus Calmette Guérin (BCG) vaccination. Mycobacteria-expanded γ9δ2 T cells represent only a subset of the phosphoantigen (IPP and HMBPP)-responsive γ9δ2 T cells, expressing an oligoclonal set of TCR sequences which more efficiently recognize and inhibit intracellular Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) infection. Based on this premise, we have been searching for Mtb antigens specifically capable of inducing a unique subset of mycobacteria-protective γ9δ2 T cells. Our screening strategy includes the identification of Mtb fractions that expand γ9δ2 T cells with biological functions capable of inhibiting intracellular mycobacteria replication. Chemical treatments of Mtb whole lysates (WL) ruled out protein, nucleic acid and nonpolar lipids as the Mtb antigens inducing prote...
CD4+ T cell clones derived from a leprosy lesion and patient blood were used to monitor the isola... more CD4+ T cell clones derived from a leprosy lesion and patient blood were used to monitor the isolation and identification of an Ag associated with the self-limited form of the disease. Biochemical purification and genetic analysis identified the T cell Ag as a conserved mycobacterial lipoglycoprotein LprG. LprG-mediated activation of CD4+ T cells required specific MHC class II restriction molecules and intracellular processing. Although LprG activated TLR2, this alone was not sufficient to stimulate or inhibit T cell activation. A striking finding was that the carbohydrate moieties of LprG were required for optimal T cell activation, because recombinant LprG produced in Escherichia coli, or recombinant LprG produced in Mycobacterium smegmatis and digested by α-mannosidase, did not activate T cells. This study demonstrates that the universe of bacterial T cell Ags includes lipoglycoproteins, which act as TLR2 ligands but also require glycosylation for MHC class II-restricted T cell ac...
The American journal of tropical medicine and hygiene, 2004
Helminth infections elicit an immune response potentially enhancing susceptibility to mycobacteri... more Helminth infections elicit an immune response potentially enhancing susceptibility to mycobacterial diseases. Schistosomiasis and infection with Mycobacterium ulcerans show a remarkable similarity in epidemiologic characteristics in Ghana. In 2000, a case-control study was conducted in three districts in Ghana endemic for M. ulcerans. One hundred six patients with confirmed M. ulcerans disease and 106 matched community controls were included. Schistosome infection of these patients and controls was measured by an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay that detected circulating anodic antigen in serum. Fifty percent of the participants tested positive for schistosomiasis. There was no difference in detection rates among patients and matched controls. Similarly, there were no differences in worm burden between patients and controls. These results do not support the hypothesis that susceptibility to M. ulcerans disease is driven by a co-infection with schistosomes.
Chemical evidence for the true glycosylation of mycobacterial proteins was recently provided in t... more Chemical evidence for the true glycosylation of mycobacterial proteins was recently provided in the context of the 45-kDa MPT 32 secreted protein of Mycobacterium tuberculosis (K. Dobos, K. Swiderek, K.-H. Khoo, P. J. Brennan, and J. T. Belisle, Infect. Immun. 63:2846-2853, 1995). However, the full extent and nature of glycosylation as well as the location of glycosylated amino acids remained undefined. First, to examine the nature of the covalently attached sugars, the 45-kDa protein was obtained from cells metabolically labeled with D-[U-14C] glucose and subjected to compositional analysis, which revealed mannose as the only covalently bound sugar. Digestion of the protein with the endoproteinase subtilisin and analysis of products by liquid chromatography-electrospray-mass spectrometry on the basis of fragments demonstrating neutral losses of hexose (m/z 162) or pentose (m/z 132) revealed five glycopeptides, S7, S18, S22, S29, and S41 among a total of 50 peptides, all of which pr...
Mice that were transgenic for a T-cell receptor (TCR) specific for ovalbumin peptide323-339 (DO11... more Mice that were transgenic for a T-cell receptor (TCR) specific for ovalbumin peptide323-339 (DO11.10) were able to survive an infection with Mycobacterium tuberculosis for approximately 80 days. This limited early control of infection was associated with gamma interferon production, inducible nitric oxide synthase expres- sion within the lung, and an influx of clonotypic lymphocytes. The control of M. tuberculosis was
Proteomics has been widely applied to develop two-dimensional polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis ... more Proteomics has been widely applied to develop two-dimensional polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis maps and databases, evaluate gene expression profiles under different environmental conditions, assess global changes associated with specific mutations, and define drug targets of bacterial pathogens. When coupled to immunological assays, proteomics may also be used to identify B-cell and T-cell antigens within complex protein mixtures. This chapter describes the proteomic approaches developed by our laboratories to accelerate the antigen discovery program for Mycobacterium tuberculosis. As presented or with minor modifications, these techniques may be universally applied to other bacterial pathogens or used to identify bacterial proteins possessing other immunological properties.
The identification of easily measured, accurate diagnostic biomarkers for active tuberculosis (TB... more The identification of easily measured, accurate diagnostic biomarkers for active tuberculosis (TB) will have a significant impact on global TB control efforts. Because of the host and pathogen complexities involved in TB pathogenesis, identifying a single biomarker that is adequately sensitive and specific continues to be a major hurdle. Our previous studies in models of TB demonstrated that exosomes, such as those released from infected macrophages, contain mycobacterial products, including many Mtb proteins. In this report, we describe the development of targeted proteomics assays employing multiplexed multiple reaction monitoring mass spectrometry (MRM-MS) in order to allow us to follow those proteins previously identified by western blot or shotgun mass spectrometry, and enhance biomarker discovery to include detection of Mtb proteins in human serum exosomes. Targeted MRM-MS assays were applied to exosomes isolated from human serum samples obtained from culture-confirmed active ...
In Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb), surface-exposed Lipoarabinomannan (LAM) is a key determinant... more In Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb), surface-exposed Lipoarabinomannan (LAM) is a key determinant of immunogenicity, yet its intrinsic heterogeneity confounds typical structure–function analysis. Recently, LAM gained a strong foothold as a validated marker for active tuberculosis (TB) infection and has shown great potential in new diagnostic efforts. However, no efforts have yet been made to model or evaluate the impact of mixed polyclonal Mtb infections (infection with multiple strains) on TB diagnostic procedures other than antibiotic susceptibility testing. Here, we selected three TB clinical isolates (HN878, EAI, and IO) and purified LAM from these strains to present an integrated analytical approach of one-dimensional and two-dimensional Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) spectroscopy, as well as enzymatic digestion and site-specific mass spectrometry (MS) to probe LAM structure and behavior at multiple levels. Overall, we found that the glycan was similar in all LAM preparations, albeit with subtle variations. Succinates, lactates, hydroxybutyrate, acetate, and the hallmark of Mtb LAM-methylthioxylose (MTX), adorned the nonreducing terminal arabinan of these LAM species. Newly identified acetoxy/hydroxybutyrate was present only in LAM from EAI and IO Mtb strains. Notably, detailed LC/MS-MS unambiguously showed that all acyl modifications and the lactyl ether in LAM are at the 3-OH position of the 2-linked arabinofuranose adjacent to the terminal β-arabinofuranose. Finally, after sequential enzymatic deglycosylation of LAM, the residual glycan that has ∼50% of α−arabinofuranose -(1→5) linked did not bind to monoclonal antibody CS35. These data clearly indicate the importance of the arabinan termini arrangements for the antigenicity of LAM.
Mycobacteria synthesize intracellular, 6--methylglucose-containing lipopolysaccharides (mGLPs) pr... more Mycobacteria synthesize intracellular, 6--methylglucose-containing lipopolysaccharides (mGLPs) proposed to modulate bacterial fatty acid metabolism. Recently, it has been shown that mGLP specifically induces a specific subset of protective γδ T cells. Mild base treatment, which removes all the base-labile groups, reduces the specific activity of mGLP required for induction of these T cells, suggesting that acylation of the saccharide moieties is required for γδ T-cell activation. On the basis of this premise, we used analytical LC/MS and NMR methods to identify and locate the acyl functions on the mGLP saccharides. We found that mGLP is heterogeneous with respect to acyl functions and contains acetyl, isobutyryl, succinyl, and octanoyl groups and that all acylations in mGLP, except for succinyl and octanoyl residues, reside on the glucosyl residues immediately following the terminal 3--methylglucose. Our analyses also indicated that the octanoyl residue resides at position 2 of an i...
γ9δ2 T cells provide a natural bridge between innate and adaptive immunity, rapidly and potently ... more γ9δ2 T cells provide a natural bridge between innate and adaptive immunity, rapidly and potently respond to pathogen infection in mucosal tissues, and are prominently induced by both tuberculosis (TB) infection and bacillus Calmette Guérin (BCG) vaccination. Mycobacteria-expanded γ9δ2 T cells represent only a subset of the phosphoantigen (IPP and HMBPP)-responsive γ9δ2 T cells, expressing an oligoclonal set of TCR sequences which more efficiently recognize and inhibit intracellular Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) infection. Based on this premise, we have been searching for Mtb antigens specifically capable of inducing a unique subset of mycobacteria-protective γ9δ2 T cells. Our screening strategy includes the identification of Mtb fractions that expand γ9δ2 T cells with biological functions capable of inhibiting intracellular mycobacteria replication. Chemical treatments of Mtb whole lysates (WL) ruled out protein, nucleic acid and nonpolar lipids as the Mtb antigens inducing prote...
CD4+ T cell clones derived from a leprosy lesion and patient blood were used to monitor the isola... more CD4+ T cell clones derived from a leprosy lesion and patient blood were used to monitor the isolation and identification of an Ag associated with the self-limited form of the disease. Biochemical purification and genetic analysis identified the T cell Ag as a conserved mycobacterial lipoglycoprotein LprG. LprG-mediated activation of CD4+ T cells required specific MHC class II restriction molecules and intracellular processing. Although LprG activated TLR2, this alone was not sufficient to stimulate or inhibit T cell activation. A striking finding was that the carbohydrate moieties of LprG were required for optimal T cell activation, because recombinant LprG produced in Escherichia coli, or recombinant LprG produced in Mycobacterium smegmatis and digested by α-mannosidase, did not activate T cells. This study demonstrates that the universe of bacterial T cell Ags includes lipoglycoproteins, which act as TLR2 ligands but also require glycosylation for MHC class II-restricted T cell ac...
The American journal of tropical medicine and hygiene, 2004
Helminth infections elicit an immune response potentially enhancing susceptibility to mycobacteri... more Helminth infections elicit an immune response potentially enhancing susceptibility to mycobacterial diseases. Schistosomiasis and infection with Mycobacterium ulcerans show a remarkable similarity in epidemiologic characteristics in Ghana. In 2000, a case-control study was conducted in three districts in Ghana endemic for M. ulcerans. One hundred six patients with confirmed M. ulcerans disease and 106 matched community controls were included. Schistosome infection of these patients and controls was measured by an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay that detected circulating anodic antigen in serum. Fifty percent of the participants tested positive for schistosomiasis. There was no difference in detection rates among patients and matched controls. Similarly, there were no differences in worm burden between patients and controls. These results do not support the hypothesis that susceptibility to M. ulcerans disease is driven by a co-infection with schistosomes.
Chemical evidence for the true glycosylation of mycobacterial proteins was recently provided in t... more Chemical evidence for the true glycosylation of mycobacterial proteins was recently provided in the context of the 45-kDa MPT 32 secreted protein of Mycobacterium tuberculosis (K. Dobos, K. Swiderek, K.-H. Khoo, P. J. Brennan, and J. T. Belisle, Infect. Immun. 63:2846-2853, 1995). However, the full extent and nature of glycosylation as well as the location of glycosylated amino acids remained undefined. First, to examine the nature of the covalently attached sugars, the 45-kDa protein was obtained from cells metabolically labeled with D-[U-14C] glucose and subjected to compositional analysis, which revealed mannose as the only covalently bound sugar. Digestion of the protein with the endoproteinase subtilisin and analysis of products by liquid chromatography-electrospray-mass spectrometry on the basis of fragments demonstrating neutral losses of hexose (m/z 162) or pentose (m/z 132) revealed five glycopeptides, S7, S18, S22, S29, and S41 among a total of 50 peptides, all of which pr...
Mice that were transgenic for a T-cell receptor (TCR) specific for ovalbumin peptide323-339 (DO11... more Mice that were transgenic for a T-cell receptor (TCR) specific for ovalbumin peptide323-339 (DO11.10) were able to survive an infection with Mycobacterium tuberculosis for approximately 80 days. This limited early control of infection was associated with gamma interferon production, inducible nitric oxide synthase expres- sion within the lung, and an influx of clonotypic lymphocytes. The control of M. tuberculosis was
Proteomics has been widely applied to develop two-dimensional polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis ... more Proteomics has been widely applied to develop two-dimensional polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis maps and databases, evaluate gene expression profiles under different environmental conditions, assess global changes associated with specific mutations, and define drug targets of bacterial pathogens. When coupled to immunological assays, proteomics may also be used to identify B-cell and T-cell antigens within complex protein mixtures. This chapter describes the proteomic approaches developed by our laboratories to accelerate the antigen discovery program for Mycobacterium tuberculosis. As presented or with minor modifications, these techniques may be universally applied to other bacterial pathogens or used to identify bacterial proteins possessing other immunological properties.
The identification of easily measured, accurate diagnostic biomarkers for active tuberculosis (TB... more The identification of easily measured, accurate diagnostic biomarkers for active tuberculosis (TB) will have a significant impact on global TB control efforts. Because of the host and pathogen complexities involved in TB pathogenesis, identifying a single biomarker that is adequately sensitive and specific continues to be a major hurdle. Our previous studies in models of TB demonstrated that exosomes, such as those released from infected macrophages, contain mycobacterial products, including many Mtb proteins. In this report, we describe the development of targeted proteomics assays employing multiplexed multiple reaction monitoring mass spectrometry (MRM-MS) in order to allow us to follow those proteins previously identified by western blot or shotgun mass spectrometry, and enhance biomarker discovery to include detection of Mtb proteins in human serum exosomes. Targeted MRM-MS assays were applied to exosomes isolated from human serum samples obtained from culture-confirmed active ...
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