FIGURE 1.

Binding of L. interrogans serovar Pomona (NVSL 1427-35-093002) to elastin and tropoelastin. A, binding of Leptospira to BSA, elastin, or tropoelastin. Leptospira (10⁷) were added to wells coated with BSA, human lung elastin, or HTE (1 μg in 100 μl of Tris buffer). B, binding of Leptospira to immobilized elastin or HTE. Leptospira (10⁸) were cultured in human lung elastin-, THE-, or BSA-coated (negative control) (1 μg in 100 Tris buffer) or -uncoated wells (negative control). Leptospiral immobilization was assayed by immunofluorescence microscopy. C, binding of Leptospira (10⁷) to various concentrations of human lung elastin, human aortic elastin, human skin elastin, HTE, or BSA (0, 0.25, 0.5, 1, 2, 4, 8, and 16 μg/ml in 100 μl of Tris buffer). BSA serves as negative control. A and C, the binding of Leptospira was estimated by ELISA, and each value represents the mean ± S.E. of three trials performed in triplicate samples. Statistically significant (p < 0.05) differences compared with the negative reference are indicated by an asterisk.