Skip to main content
Infection and Immunity logoLink to Infection and Immunity
. 1992 Jun;60(6):2544–2546. doi: 10.1128/iai.60.6.2544-2546.1992

Characterization of the immunoglobulin A protease of Ureaplasma urealyticum.

R K Spooner 1, W C Russell 1, D Thirkell 1
PMCID: PMC257195  PMID: 1587621

Abstract

Ureaplasma urealyticum strains of all serotypes express a specific human immunoglobulin A1 protease that cleaves immunoglobulin A1 to produce intact Fab and Fc fragments. The use of a variety of inhibitors suggests that the enzyme is a serine protease. N-terminal sequencing of the Fc digestion product showed that the enzyme cleaves between the proline and threonine residues 235 and 236 in the hinge region of the heavy chain of immunoglobulin A1.

Full text

PDF
2544

Images in this article

Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

  1. Amons R. Vapor-phase modification of sulfhydryl groups in proteins. FEBS Lett. 1987 Feb 9;212(1):68–72. doi: 10.1016/0014-5793(87)81558-2. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. Bachovchin W. W., Plaut A. G., Flentke G. R., Lynch M., Kettner C. A. Inhibition of IgA1 proteinases from Neisseria gonorrhoeae and Hemophilus influenzae by peptide prolyl boronic acids. J Biol Chem. 1990 Mar 5;265(7):3738–3743. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. DULBECCO R., VOGT M. Plaque formation and isolation of pure lines with poliomyelitis viruses. J Exp Med. 1954 Feb;99(2):167–182. doi: 10.1084/jem.99.2.167. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. Gilbert J. V., Plaut A. G., Fishman Y., Wright A. Cloning of the gene encoding streptococcal immunoglobulin A protease and its expression in Escherichia coli. Infect Immun. 1988 Aug;56(8):1961–1966. doi: 10.1128/iai.56.8.1961-1966.1988. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. Kapatais-Zoumbos K., Chandler D. K., Barile M. F. Survey of immunoglobulin A protease activity among selected species of Ureaplasma and Mycoplasma: specificity for host immunoglobulin A. Infect Immun. 1985 Mar;47(3):704–709. doi: 10.1128/iai.47.3.704-709.1985. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. Kerr M. A. The structure and function of human IgA. Biochem J. 1990 Oct 15;271(2):285–296. doi: 10.1042/bj2710285. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. Kilian M., Brown M. B., Brown T. A., Freundt E. A., Cassell G. H. Immunoglobulin A1 protease activity in strains of Ureaplasma urealyticum. Acta Pathol Microbiol Immunol Scand B. 1984 Feb;92(1):61–64. doi: 10.1111/j.1699-0463.1984.tb02794.x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. Kilian M. Degradation of immunoglobulins A2, A2, and G by suspected principal periodontal pathogens. Infect Immun. 1981 Dec;34(3):757–765. doi: 10.1128/iai.34.3.757-765.1981. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. Kilian M., Freundt E. A. Exclusive occurrence of an extracellular protease capable of cleaving the hinge region of human immunoglobulin A1 in strains of Ureaplasma urealyticum. Isr J Med Sci. 1984 Oct;20(10):938–941. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. LOWRY O. H., ROSEBROUGH N. J., FARR A. L., RANDALL R. J. Protein measurement with the Folin phenol reagent. J Biol Chem. 1951 Nov;193(1):265–275. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. Laemmli U. K. Cleavage of structural proteins during the assembly of the head of bacteriophage T4. Nature. 1970 Aug 15;227(5259):680–685. doi: 10.1038/227680a0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  12. Loomes L. M., Senior B. W., Kerr M. A. A proteolytic enzyme secreted by Proteus mirabilis degrades immunoglobulins of the immunoglobulin A1 (IgA1), IgA2, and IgG isotypes. Infect Immun. 1990 Jun;58(6):1979–1985. doi: 10.1128/iai.58.6.1979-1985.1990. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  13. Male C. J. Immunoglobulin A1 protease production by Haemophilus influenzae and Streptococcus pneumoniae. Infect Immun. 1979 Oct;26(1):254–261. doi: 10.1128/iai.26.1.254-261.1979. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  14. Plaut A. G., Gilbert J. V., Artenstein M. S., Capra J. D. Neisseria gonorrhoeae and neisseria meningitidis: extracellular enzyme cleaves human immunoglobulin A. Science. 1975 Dec 12;190(4219):1103–1105. doi: 10.1126/science.810892. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  15. Pohlner J., Halter R., Beyreuther K., Meyer T. F. Gene structure and extracellular secretion of Neisseria gonorrhoeae IgA protease. 1987 Jan 29-Feb 4Nature. 325(6103):458–462. doi: 10.1038/325458a0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  16. Poulsen K., Brandt J., Hjorth J. P., Thøgersen H. C., Kilian M. Cloning and sequencing of the immunoglobulin A1 protease gene (iga) of Haemophilus influenzae serotype b. Infect Immun. 1989 Oct;57(10):3097–3105. doi: 10.1128/iai.57.10.3097-3105.1989. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  17. Putnam F. W., Liu Y. S., Low T. L. Primary structure of a human IgA1 immunoglobulin. IV. Streptococcal IgA1 protease, digestion, Fab and Fc fragments, and the complete amino acid sequence of the alpha 1 heavy chain. J Biol Chem. 1979 Apr 25;254(8):2865–2874. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  18. Robertson J. A., Stemler M. E., Stemke G. W. Immunoglobulin A protease activity of Ureaplasma urealyticum. J Clin Microbiol. 1984 Feb;19(2):255–258. doi: 10.1128/jcm.19.2.255-258.1984. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  19. Thirkell D., Myles A. D., Russell W. C. Serotype 8- and serocluster-specific surface-expressed antigens of Ureaplasma urealyticum. Infect Immun. 1989 Jun;57(6):1697–1701. doi: 10.1128/iai.57.6.1697-1701.1989. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  20. Thirkell D., Spooner R. K., Jones G. E., Russell W. C., Voice M. W. Cross-reacting antigens between Mycoplasma ovipneumoniae and other species of mycoplasma of animal origin, shown by ELISA and immunoblotting with reference antisera. Vet Microbiol. 1991 Feb 1;26(3):249–261. doi: 10.1016/0378-1135(91)90018-b. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from Infection and Immunity are provided here courtesy of American Society for Microbiology (ASM)

RESOURCES