Evaluation of leptospiral recombinant antigens MPL17 and MPL21for serological diagnosis of leptospirosis by Enzyme-LinkedImmunosorbent Assays

Leptospirosis is a zoonosis of multisystem involvement caused by pathogenic strains of the genus Leptospira. In the last few years, intensive studies aimed at the development of a vaccine have provided important knowledge about the nature of the immunological mechanisms of the host. The purpose of this study was toanalyze the immune responses to two recombinant proteins, MPL17 and MPL21 (encoded by the genes LIC10765 and LIC13131, respectively) of Leptospira interrogans serovar Copenhageni in individuals during infection. The recombinant proteins were expressed in Escherichia coli as six-His tag fusion proteins and were purified from the soluble bacterial fraction by affinity chromatography with Ni2 -charged resin. The recombinant proteins were used to evaluate their ability to bind to immunoglobulin G (IgG)...