Inhibition of Enterococcus faecium adherence to collagen by antibodies against high-affinity binding subdomains of Acm

Authors

Sreedhar R Nallapareddy
Jouko Sillanpää
Vannakambadi K Ganesh
Magnus Höök
Barbara E Murray

Publication Date

6-1-2007

Journal

Infection and Immunity

Abstract

Strains of Enterococcus faecium express a cell wall-anchored protein, Acm, which mediates adherence to collagen. Here, we (i) identify the minimal and high-affinity binding subsegments of Acm and (ii) show that anti-Acm immunoglobulin Gs (IgGs) purified against these subsegments reduced E. faecium TX2535 strain collagen adherence up to 73 and 50%, respectively, significantly more than the total IgGs against the full-length Acm A domain (28%) (P < 0.0001). Blocking Acm adherence with functional subsegment-specific antibodies raises the possibility of their use as therapeutic or prophylactic agents.

Keywords

Adhesins, Bacterial, Antibodies, Bacterial, Bacterial Adhesion, Collagen, Enterococcus faecium