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The coccidioidal complement fixation and immunodiffusion-complement fixation antigen is a chitinase

S M Johnson1, D Pappagianis

  • 1Department of Medical Microbiology and Immunology, School of Medicine, University of California, Davis 95616.

Infection and Immunity
|July 1, 1992
PubMed

Insights

Researchers identified a chitinase from Coccidioides immitis as a key antigen for diagnosing coccidioidomycosis. This enzyme is crucial for serodiagnosis and may play a role in fungal development.

Area of Science:

  • Mycology
  • Immunology
  • Biochemistry

Background:

  • Culture filtrates and autolysates of Coccidioides immitis are used as crude antigens for coccidioidomycosis serodiagnosis.
  • A specific heat-labile antigen, involved in immunodiffusion and complement fixation reactions (IDCF), was previously characterized as a 110-kDa protein yielding a 48-kDa component under reducing and heat conditions.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To provide serologic and biochemical evidence identifying the heat-labile IDCF antigen as a chitinase.
  • To investigate the enzymatic and antigenic properties of this C. immitis chitinase.

Main Methods:

  • Isolation of the antigen from a 48-h culture filtrate of the spherule-endospore-phase C. immitis using affinity adsorption to chitin.
  • Serologic testing including immunodiffusion and complement fixation reactions with human serum.
  • Biochemical analysis of enzymatic and antigenic activity following heat treatment.

Main Results:

  • The isolated chitinase formed a line of identity with the IDCF reference antigen in immunodiffusion.
  • The chitinase participated in the complement fixation reaction with human serum.
  • Enzymatic and antigenic activity were lost upon heating, but enzymatic activity was retained when not heated, even after precipitation with coccidiodal antibody.

Conclusions:

  • The identified chitinase is a significant serodiagnostic substance for coccidioidomycosis.
  • This chitinase may play a role in the morphogenesis of Coccidioides immitis.

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