Antibody response of infected mice to outer membrane proteins of Pseudomonas aeruginosa

The antibody response to outer membrane proteins of Pseudomonas aeruginosa was studied in mice experimentally infected with P. aeruginosa 220. The infection consisted of an abscess established by subcutaneous injection of bacteria. Sera from these mice were analyzed by indirect radioimmunoprecipitation and immunoblot methods for the presence of antibodies to proteins of the isolated outer membrane. Sera from mice 14 days postinfection were shown to contain antibodies directed against proteins that comigrated with the major outer membrane proteins F (porin), H2, and I (lipoprotein). A 16,000-dalton protein that did not appear to be a major outer membrane protein also elicited a significant antibody response in some instances. It is concluded that mice, in response to infection, elicit an immunological response to outer membrane proteins of P. aeruginosa.