Two novel IgG endopeptidases of Streptococcus equi.

Full Abstract

Streptococcus equi ssp. equi causes strangles, a highly contagious and serious disease in the upper respiratory tract of horses. Streptococcus equi ssp. zooepidemicus, another subspecies of this genus, is regarded as an opportunistic commensal in horses. The present study describes the characterization of two novel immunoglobulin G (IgG) endopeptidases of these subspecies, IdeE2 and IdeZ2. Both enzymes display sequence similarities with two previously characterized IgG endopeptidases, IdeE of S. equi ssp. equi and IdeZ of S. equi ssp. zooepidemicus. IdeE2 and IdeZ2 display high substrate-specificity in comparison with IdeE and IdeZ, as they both completely cleave horse IgG, while the activity against IgG from mouse, rabbit, cat, cow, sheep and goat is low or absent. The potential use of IdeE and IdeE2 as vaccine components was studied in a mouse infection model. In this vaccination and challenge study, both enzymes induced protection against S. equi ssp. equi infection.

Author information

Author/s: Hulting, Greta (G); Flock, Margareta (M); Frykberg, Lars (L); Lannergård, Jonas (J); Flock, Jan-Ingmar (JI); Guss, Bengt (B);

Affiliation: Department of Microbiology, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Uppsala, Sweden.

Journal and publication information

Publication Type: Journal Article; Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

Journal: FEMS microbiology letters (FEMS Microbiol Lett), published in England. (Language: eng)

Reference: 2009-Sep; vol 298 (issue 1) : pp 44-50

Dates: Created 2009/08/07; Completed 2009/10/01;

PMID: 19659725, status: MEDLINE (last retrieval date: 10/1/2009, IMS Date: )

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