Immunodominant antigen of Actinobacillus actinomycetemcomitans Y4 in high-responder patients

This study was undertaken to look for characteristics of the immunodominant antigen(s) of Actinobacillus actinomycetemcomitans Y4 that might help explain the high antibody titers in periodontitis patients. Radioimmunoassays (RIA) were performed on sera from 481 patients; sera from the 32 patients with the highest anti-Y4 titers (above 128,000 RIA U/ml) were further analyzed. Y4 antigen was boiled for 45 min or treated with papain, and antibody responses were analyzed by RIA and Western blotting (immunoblotting). In addition, carbohydrate was purified from Y4 and examined by Western blotting. The results indicated that the immunodominant antigen of Y4 in high responders was stable after papain treatment or boiling for 45 min. Papain or boiling eliminated protein bands but a large diffuse band persisted on Western blots. With increasing dilutions of sera, bands on Western blots corresponding to protein antigens disappeared, while the large diffuse band resembling that of carbohydrate persisted. Partially purified Y4 carbohydrate contained the large diffuse band. Double-immunodiffusion analysis indicated that rabbit serotype b-specific antiserum and patient sera recognized the same antigen. When the carbohydrate extract was passed over a lipid A-binding column to remove lipopolysaccharide, the smear corresponding to the immunodominant antigen was still present on Western blots. The immunodominant antigen of Y4 in high-responder individuals appears to be a carbohydrate and is possibly the capsular polysaccharide.