Characterization of monoclonal antibodies for the rapid detection of foodborne campylobacters

Development of a monoclonal antibody-based colony blot immunoassay for detection of thermotolerant Campylobacter species

Campylobacter species, particularly thermotolerant Campylobacter spp., such as C. jejuni, are major human foodborne pathogens. Culture methods have been routinely used for the detection of this organism in various types of samples. An alternative, simple and rapid confirmation test(s) without further tedious biochemical tests would be useful. Meanwhile, Campylobacter-like colonies can be difficult to identify on agar plates overgrown with competitive bacteria, which can lead to false-negative results. This study was to develop a simple colony blot immunoassay using a new monoclonal antibody (Mab) produced in the present study for rapid screening, confirmation and quantification of campylobacters on culture agar plates. The procedure developed in this study was able to specifically detect thermotolerant Campylobacter spp., but not other non-thermotolerant Campylobacter and non-Campylobacter reference strains tested. This assay could detect 10⁵ cells in a single dot. This assay showed 100% correlation with the culture method for the blotted membranes from 21 either chicken meat or vegetable samples experimentally inoculated with thermotolerant campylobacters. Among 101 natural samples of chicken meat (n=44), chicken feces (n=20) and vegetables (n=37), this assay also showed positive for 23 chicken meat and 14 fecal samples that were positive for thermotolerant campylobacters by culture method, and identified four additional suspects that were culture negative. Membranes stored at 4°C for at least 4years could also be used for this assay. The assay developed in this study can be used in quantitative study for immediate or archival usage, and for diagnostic test to preliminarily confirm the presence of thermotolerant Campylobacter on agar plates.

Monoclonal antibody binding to the major outer membrane protein of Campylobacter coli

Campylobacter species are major enteric pathogens causing diarrhea illness in humans and animals. Immunological tests are needed for accurate and rapid identification of C. coli, in conjunction with the use of standard biochemical tests. We initiated the creation of monoclonal antibodies (MAbs) using whole C. coli cells as antigen. Four positive clones were identified, namely MAb2G6, MAb3B9, MAb4A10 and MAb5B9. Dot-blot assay and ELISA revealed that only MAb2G6 did not cross react with C. jejuni and other Campylobacter isolates. As demonstrated by dot-blot assay, MAb2G6 reacted with all 23 C. coli isolates tested but did not react with 29 isolates of C. jejuni, 3 other Campylobacter spp. isolates and 19 non-Campylobacter isolates, with the lowest detection limit was in the range of 10(3) to 10(4) bacteria. Western blots and dot blots showed that the antigen of MAb2G6 was a native protein, with immunoprecipitation assay showed that MAb2G6 bound to a protein band of approximately 43 kDa in size, corresponding to major outer membrane protein (MOMP) of C. coli revealed by matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization-time of flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF-MS). Immunofluorescence assay (IFA) showed that MOMP of C. coli was indeed the antigen of MAb2G6, with immunogold-electron microscopy demonstrated that MAb2G6 conjugated with immunogold particles bound to all over the surface of C. coli cells. MAb2G6 also showed potential usage in direct detection of C. coli in faecal samples.

Production of a monoclonal antibody specific for the major outer membrane protein of Campylobacter jejuni and characterization of the epitope

Campylobacter species are important enteric pathogens causing disease in humans and animals. There is a lack of a good immunological test that can be used routinely to separate Campylobacter jejuni from other Campylobacter species. We produced monoclonal antibodies (MAbs) directed against the major outer membrane protein (MOMP) of C. jejuni using recombinant MOMP as the antigen. One MAb, designated MAb5C4 and of the immunoglobulin G1 isotype, was found to be potentially specific for C. jejuni. Dot blots demonstrated that MAb5C4 reacted with all 29 isolates of C. jejuni tested but did not react with 2 C. jejuni isolates, 26 other Campylobacter spp. isolates, and 19 non-Campylobacter isolates. Western blotting showed that MAb5C4 bound to a single protein band approximately 43 kDa in size, corresponding to the expected size of C. jejuni MOMP. The detection limit of MAb5C4 in a dot blot assay was determined to be about 5 x 10(3) bacteria. The epitope on the MOMP was mapped to a region six amino acids in length with the sequence 216GGQFNP221, which is 97% conserved among C. jejuni strains but divergent in other Campylobacter spp.; a GenBank search indicated that 95% of C. jejuni isolates will be able to be detected from non-Campylobacter spp. based on the highly specific and conserved region of the GGQFNP polypeptide. The epitope is predicted to be located in a region that is exposed to the periplasm. MAb5C4 is a potentially specific and sensitive MAb that can be used for the specific detection and identification of C. jejuni.

Development of an indirect competitive ELISA for detection of Campylobacter jejuni subsp.jejuni O:23 in foods

An indirect enzyme immunoassay for rapid detection of Campylobacter jejuni subsp. jejuni 0:23 has been developed. Optimum concentrations of immobilized cells, polyclonal chicken IgY, and rabbit anti-IgY antibody-horseradish peroxidase conjugate were 3.1 CFU/nL, 10 microg/mL, and 8 microg/mL, respectively. Under such conditions, the detection limit reached 50 CFU/microL, limit of quantification being 480 CFU/microL. By testing 5 chromogens, viz. 1,2-benzenediamine, 2,2'-azinobis(3-ethylbenzthiazoline-6-sulfonic acid), 3,3',5,5'-tetramethylbenzidine, bi(4,4'-anisidine) and 3-methyl-2-benzothiazolinone hydrazone, in horseradish peroxidase substrate, 1,2-benzenediamine or 3,3',5,5'-tetramethylbenzidine as H-donors in the enzyme substrate provided the highest ELISA sensitivity. The applied polyclonal antibody was specific for homogeneous antigen. The cross-reactions were observed only with one strain of C. sputorum subsp. sputorum (21.5 %) and with G+ bacterium Micrococcus luteus (6.1 %). Preliminary tests have been performed with a limited number of artificially contaminated food samples. No matrix effects on the ELISA sensitivity were observed. The results (by means of ELISA) were comparable with those given by both a standard cultivation method performed according to CSN ISO 10272 and commercially available Singlepath Campylobacter GLISA-Rapid Test.

Evaluation of the Alexon-trend ProSpecT Campylobacter microplate assay

We evaluated stool specimens known to contain or be free of Campylobacter by traditional culture, using the ProSpecT Campylobacter microplate assay (Alexon-Trend, Ramsey, Minn.). This rapid enzyme immunoassay for the detection of Campylobacter-specific antigens demonstrated 96% sensitivity and 99% specificity and is an acceptable alternative method of Campylobacter detection.