Comparison of major antigenic proteins of six strains of the human granulocytic ehrlichiosis agent by Western immunoblot analysis.

The etiologic agent of human granulocytic ehrlichiosis (HGE) is an obligate intracellular bacterium. In 1996, blood specimens from 53 patients suspected of having HGE were examined by indirect fluorescent antibody (IFA) testing with the HGE agent no. 13 isolate as the antigen, by nested PCR, and by culture. All patients resided in Westchester County, N.Y. Twelve patient specimens were positive for IFA (titer > or = 1:40). Seven of these were also positive by PCR. Of the seven specimens positive by both IFA testing and PCR, the HGE agent was isolated from four (no. 2, 3, 6, and 11) and continuously cultured in HL-60 cells. These were confirmed as the HGE agent by sequencing of 16S rDNA. Both purified whole-cell organisms and the outer membrane fractions of the new isolates were compared with no. 13 isolate and a tick (USG) isolate by sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE) and Western immunoblot analysis. No. 11 and 13 isolates had identical SDS-PAGE patterns with respect to 49- and 47-kDa proteins. No. 3 and USG isolates lacked the 47-kDa protein, and no. 6 isolate lacked the 49-kDa protein. Both 49- and 47-kDa bands were absent in no. 2 isolate. Western blot results with seven different sera, including five convalescent-phase sera from these patients, one dog anti-USG isolate, and one horse anti-BDS isolate, showed that all major antigens in six isolates were recognized by all sera. However, the molecular sizes and the numbers of major antigens recognized varied among the six isolates. Overall, HGE agent no. 3, 6, 11, and 13, and USG isolates had similar patterns, with 1 or 2 major antigens with molecular masses of around 49 and 47 kDa. No. 2 isolate was quite distinct in having a major antigen of 43 kDa. This indicates that although these antigenic epitopes are all cross-reactive among strains, the HGE agent has a strain pleomorphism in its major antigenic proteins. The major antigen profiles of the outer membrane protein fractions and of whole organisms of six HGE agent isolates were similar, suggesting that 49- and 47-kDa major antigens are the outer membrane proteins of the HGE agent.