Proteome of conidial surface associated proteins of Aspergillus fumigatus reflecting potential vaccine candidates and allergens

Aspergillus fumigatus is a mold causing most of the invasive fungal lung infections in the immunocompromised host. In addition, the species is the causative agent of certain allergic diseases. Both in invasive and in allergic diseases, the conidial surface mediates the first contact with the human immune system. Thus, conidial surface proteins may be reasonable vaccine candidates as well as important allergens. To broaden the list of those antigens, intact viable Aspergillus conidia were extracted with mild alkaline buffer at pH 8.5 in the presence of a 1,3-beta-glucanase. The proteome of this fraction was separated by two- dimensional gel electrophoresis (2-DE) and analyzed by liquid chromatography coupled with tandem mass spectrometry. Altogether 26 different A. fumigatus proteins were identified, twelve of which contain a signal for secretion. Among these were the known major conidial surface protein rodlet A, one acid protease PEP2, one lipase, a putative disulfide isomerase and a putative fructose-1,6-biphosphatase. The known allergen Aspf 3 was identified among the proteins without a signal for secretion. On the basis of the recently annotated A. fumigatus genome (Nature 2005, 438, 1151-1156), proteome analysis is now a powerful tool to confirm expression of hypothetical proteins and, thereby to identify additional vaccine candidates and possible new allergens of this important fungal pathogen.