Heat stability of protective antigen of Leptospira interrogans serovar lai

Protective antigen (PAg; glycolipid antigen; molecular size, 23 to 30 kilodaltons), the serogroup-specific antigen partially purified from leptospiral cells, is one of the most important protective antigens. The heat stability of PAg was compared with that of whole-cell (WC) antigen by using sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis, immunoblotting, protective activity, opsonin-inducing activity, agglutinating antibody-inducing activity, and an inhibition test in an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. A band of 23 to 30 kilodaltons of PAg, which was seen in untreated PAg and WC, shifted to a position with a molecular size of ca. 20 kilodaltons after heat treatment of PAg at 80 degrees C for 30 min and WC at 100 degrees C for 30 min. In the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay inhibition test with monoclonal antibody LW2 and a sonicated antigen of WC, the inhibition rate of PAg and WC to sonicated WC was reduced by heat treatment at 80 degrees C for 30 min and at 100 degrees C for 30 min, respectively. Agglutinating antibody-inducing activities and opsonin-inducing activities of PAg and WC in mice were reduced by heat treatment under the same conditions; these activities were assayed by a microscopic agglutination test and by chemical luminescence response in serum from immunized mice, respectively. Protective activity of heated PAg and heated WC in cyclophosphamide-pretreated mice agreed with the results of immunogenicity in mice. These results indicate that the Leptospira PAg is one of the important protective antigens and is altered by heat treatment at 80 degrees C. Furthermore, the immunogenicity and antigenicity of the PAg present in WC are more stable than that of the extracted PAg, and the coexistence of other cellular components with PAg might protect and stabilize PAg from the heat treatment.