Immunoproteomic analysis of antibody response to cell wall‐associated proteins of C andida tropicalis

Aims This study was conducted to identify antigenic proteins of C andida tropicalis that are targeted by the host immune system. Methods and Results An immunoproteomic approach was used to discover antigens from cell wall of C .  tropicalis that were recognized by sera from experimentally infected mice. This resulted in the identification of twelve distinct proteins, of which ten have been previously reported as antigens of C andida albicans . For the remaining two proteins, Idh2p has been described as an antigen of C andida parapsilosis, whereas Kgd2p is revealed for the first time as an antigenic protein for Candida species. These two antigens were expressed as recombinant proteins in E scherichia coli and were shown to be specifically recognized by sera from infected host on Western blot. Conclusions The present work investigated immunoproteome of C . tropicalis and identified several biomarker candidate antigens, with Kgd2p as a novel immunogenic protein that could be associated with pathogenesis of C .  tropicalis . Significance and Impact of the Study Findings from this study help to improve current understanding on host response to C .  tropicalis infection and provide new insights into immune‐pathogenesis of C .  tropicalis . Besides, the immunogenic proteins could be considered as targets for the development of immunodiagnostic assay and/or vaccine.