Analysis of Escherichia coli colonization factor antigen I linear B-cell epitopes, as determined by primate responses, following protein sequence verification.

Colonization factor antigen I (CFA/I)-bearing strains of enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli (ETEC) are responsible for a significant percentage of ETEC diarrheal disease worldwide whether the disease presents as infant diarrhea with high mortality or as traveler's diarrhea. CFA/I pili (fimbriae) are virulence determinants that consist of repeating protein subunits (pilin), are found in several ETEC serogroups, and promote attachment to human intestinal mucosa. While CFA/I pili are highly immunogenic, the antigenic determinants of CFA/I have not been defined. We wished to identify the linear B-cell epitopes within the CFA/I molecule as determined by primate response to the immunizing protein. To do this, we (i) resolved the discrepancies in the literature on the complete amino acid sequence of CFA/I by N-terminal and internal protein sequencing of purified and selected proteolytic fragments of CFA/I, (ii) utilized this sequence to synthesize 140 overlapping octapeptides covalently attached to polyethylene pins which represented the entire CFA/I protein, (iii) immunized three rhesus monkeys with multiple intramuscular injections of purified CFA/I subunit in Freund's adjuvant, and (iv) tested serum from each monkey for its ability to recognize the octapeptides in a capture enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Eight linear B-cell epitopes were identified; the region containing an epitope at amino acids 11 to 21 was strongly recognized by all three individual rhesus monkeys, while the amino acid stretches 22 to 29, 66 to 74, 93 to 101, and 124 to 136 each contained an epitope that was recognized by two of the three rhesus monkeys. The three other regions containing epitopes were recognized by one of the three individuals. The monkey antiserum to pilus subunits recognized native intact pili by immunogold labeling of CFA/I pili present on whole H10407 cells. Therefore, immunization with pilus subunits induces antibody that clearly recognizes both synthetic linear epitopes and intact pili. We are currently studying the importance of these defined epitope-containing regions as vaccine candidates.