Western Blot Assay Of Hsp90 And Sap2 Epitope-specific Antibodies In Sera Of Cancer Patients

Candida albicans is a kind of fungus that exists in healthy human bodies. Whether it functions as a harmless colonizer or as an opportunistic pathogen depends on the status of the host. The incidence of hospital-acquired infections caused by Candida albicans has increased steadily. This is likely due to an increase in the patients who are rendered susceptible to infection due to immunosuppressive procedures.Heat-shock protein 90(Hsp90) is a virulent factor of Candida albicans. As a dominant antigen, it induces the host body to produce antibodies. As another dominant antigen, Secretory aspartyl proteinase2 (Sap2) is produced during the invasion process and plays an important role in the infection of Candida albicans.In this study, the epitopes SLAQVKYTSASSI of Sap2 and DEPAGE of Hsp90 were displayed on the surface of filamentous phage , respectively. Based on the hybrid phages , 31 sera from patients who suffered from malignant tumors were tested by western blot to determin whether the sera contained anti-Sap2 antibody and/or anti-Hsp90 antibody. The results showed that among 31 sera, 20 (64.5%)sera contained anti-Sap2 antibody,18(58.1%) sera contained anti-Hsp90 antibody,18 sera contained both two kinds of antibodies.The serological test used here is specific and independ on fungal culture, it may be used as an assisting method for the clinical diagnosis of systemic candidasis.