Cellular immune responses to cell wall peptidoglycan associated protein antigens in tuberculosis patients and healthy subjects

Deglycosylation of glycoproteins with trifluoromethanesulphonic acid: elucidation of molecular structure and function

The alteration of proteins by post-translational modifications, including phosphorylation, sulphation, processing by proteolysis, lipid attachment and glycosylation, gives rise to a broad range of molecules that can have an identical underlying protein core. An understanding of glycosylation of proteins is important in clarifying the nature of the numerous variants observed and in determining the biological roles of these modifications. Deglycosylation with TFMS (trifluoromethanesulphonic acid) [Edge, Faltynek, Hof, Reichert, and Weber, (1981) Anal. Biochem. 118, 131-137] has been used extensively to remove carbohydrate from glycoproteins, while leaving the protein backbone intact. Glycosylated proteins from animals, plants, fungi and bacteria have been deglycosylated with TFMS, and the most extensively studied types of carbohydrate chains in mammals, the N-linked, O-linked and glycosaminoglycan chains, are all removed by this procedure. The method is based on the finding that linkages between sugars are sensitive to cleavage by TFMS, whereas the peptide bond is stable and is not broken, even with prolonged deglycosylation. The relative susceptibility of individual sugars in glycosidic linkage varies with the substituents at C-2 and the occurrence of amido and acetyl groups, but even the most stable sugars are removed under conditions that are sufficiently mild to prevent scission of peptide bonds. The post-translational modifications of proteins have been shown to be required for diverse biological functions, and selective procedures to remove these modifications play an important role in the elucidation of protein structure and function.

Immunoreactivity of peptides generated by limited proteolysis of 71-kDa cell wall protein of Mycobacterium tuberculosis H37Ra using PLG-microparticles

Peptide mapping by limited proteolysis of a highly protective 71-kDa cell wall-associated protein of Mycobacterium tuberculosis H37Ra was carried out in order to identify key protective determinants within the native protein. The 71-kDa protein, which had an isoelectric point of 4.25, was digested into eight major bands at 48 h using trypsin and pepsin at equal enzyme to protein ratios (pH 5.5). The in vitro lymphocyte reactivity of individual peptides suggested P1, P2 and P5 to be significantly immunoreactive in mice immunized with native 71-kDa-polylactide-coglyeolide (PLG); however, the reactivity was significantly lower than that of the native 71-kDa protein. Immunization of mice with a pooled fraction (upper fraction-71 kDa) of more immunoreactive peptides (consisting of P1 and P2) did not further boost their immunoreactivity. However, P1 and P2 exhibited comparable or even higher lymphocyte proliferation in human tuberculous and control subjects. These data suggest distinct antigenic specificities in humans and mice and further substantiate the use of the 71-kDa protein or its peptides P1 and P2 as potential vaccine candidates for tuberculosis.