Cross reactivity of S. aureus to murine cytokine assays: A source of discrepancy. (May 2016)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Javed, Numan; Xue, Guang; Lu, Ailing; Xing, Yue; Iwakura, Yoichiro; Xiao, Hui; Lecoeur, Hervé; Späth, Gerald F.; Meng, Guangxun
• Is Part Of: Cytokine. Volume 81(2016)
• Page Start: 101
• Page End: 108
• Publication Date: 2016-05
• Subjects: S. aureus -- IL-1β -- TNF-α -- Inflammasome -- Cross reactivity; Cytokines -- Periodicals; 571.844
• DOI: 10.1016/j.cyto.2016.03.007
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1043-4666

Abstract

Highlights: Antibodies for mouse IL-1β and TNF-α ELISA are cross reactivating to S. aureus . An antibody against mouse IL-1β is cross reactive to S. aureus in immunoblotting. Any of these antibodies generates signal to S. aureus in both ELISA and western blotting . S. aureus induced murine IL-1β or TNF-α signals could be false positive. Abstract: Staphylococcus aureus is one of the versatile Gram positive bacteria causing a range of diseases. Upon challenge, host immune cells recognize S. aureus and mount diverse immune responses including production of pro-inflammatory cytokines such as IL-1β and TNF-α. These cytokines are important mediators of inflammation which can be detected via various immunological methods such as enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and immunoblotting. In the current study, we found that a number of clinical isolates as well as laboratory strains of S. aureus exhibited cross reactivity with ELISA antibodies for murine IL-1β and TNF-α assays. This cross reactivity generates exaggerated false positive signals which can be a source of discrepancy for the understanding of real immune responses against S. aureus infection by host immune cells.