Genetic diversity of Group A Streptococcus M protein: implications for typing and vaccine development

Vaccine. 2008 Oct 29;26(46):5835-42. doi: 10.1016/j.vaccine.2008.08.037. Epub 2008 Sep 25.

Abstract

Group A Streptococci (GAS) are classified into 180 emm-types based on the sequence of the amino-terminal hyper-variable region of the M surface protein. The genetic relatedness of the whole surface-exposed part of M was investigated in well-characterized Belgian and Brazilian GAS isolates which belong to different epidemiological and clinical landscapes. Despite a small number of different emm-types and an apparent low diversity in the Belgian isolates (as revealed by the emm-typing method), our data showed that the overall genetic diversity of the M proteins was higher than expected. On the contrary, the M proteins from the Brazilian isolates were genetically highly related. Since M is a multi-functional protein, an analysis of the whole surface-exposed sequence that takes into account the different functional domains may provide tools for typing as well as for analyzing the molecular mechanisms of M virulence or defining vaccine strategies.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Antigens, Bacterial / genetics*
  • Antigens, Bacterial / immunology*
  • Bacterial Outer Membrane Proteins / genetics*
  • Bacterial Outer Membrane Proteins / immunology*
  • Belgium / epidemiology
  • Brazil / epidemiology
  • Carrier Proteins / genetics*
  • Carrier Proteins / immunology*
  • Genes, Bacterial / genetics
  • Genes, Bacterial / immunology
  • Genetic Variation
  • Humans
  • Molecular Epidemiology
  • Phylogeny
  • Plasminogen / metabolism
  • Repetitive Sequences, Nucleic Acid
  • Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction
  • Streptococcal Infections / epidemiology
  • Streptococcal Infections / immunology
  • Streptococcal Infections / microbiology
  • Streptococcal Vaccines / genetics*
  • Streptococcal Vaccines / immunology*
  • Streptococcus pyogenes / genetics*
  • Streptococcus pyogenes / immunology*

Substances

  • Antigens, Bacterial
  • Bacterial Outer Membrane Proteins
  • Carrier Proteins
  • Streptococcal Vaccines
  • streptococcal M protein
  • Plasminogen