Human antibody response to outer membrane proteins of Campylobacter jejuni during infection.

Two techniques were used to isolate outer membrane proteins from Campylobacter jejuni, EDTA-lysozyme extraction and sodium-N-lauroylsarcosinate (Sarkosyl) solubilization. The protein profiles of the two preparations were similar, with a few additional bands in the EDTA-lysozyme preparations. The major outer membrane protein was 43,000 (43K) daltons, and there were 8 to 10 minor bands ranging from 92K to 14K daltons. There was no difference in the protein profile of a strain causing an infection (strain 17) and the resulting stool isolate (strain 17J). Sera collected before the infection and during the acute and convalescent stages were used with Western blotting and immunoautoradiographic techniques to determine the antigenicity of outer membrane proteins. A number of antigenic proteins were detected before the infection by their reaction with preinfection serum (61K, 51K, 43K, 40K, 34K, and 31K daltons), and three additional bands appeared during the infection when acute and convalescent sera were used (92K, 56K, and 19K daltons). Furthermore, an area of the gel at less than 14.4K daltons that did not stain with Coomassie brilliant blue became visible in the immune blots when the convalescent serum was used.