Campylobacter jejuni is the leading cause of bacterial food poisoning worldwide. Chickens are considered to be one of the major reservoirs of Campylobacter infection in humans due to colonization of their intestinal tract. When the chickens are slaughtered and processed, the entire skin of the carcass becomes contaminated with campylobacters. We observed that the number of C. jejuni attached to chicken skin was reduced significantly after treatment of the skin with sodium hydroxide followed by washing with PBS, implying that adhesion factors involved in binding to C. jejuni may exist on skin. Such potential binding-related proteins present in alkaline extracts of the skin surface were detected by a two-dimensional overlay assay and identified by liquid chromatography mass spectrometry (LC-MS). Chicken serum albumin (CSA) was identified as a major protein in these alkaline extracts and confirmed by ELISA to bind specifically to C. jejuni. Moreover, using the same approach, flagellar hook protein E (FlgE) and major outer membrane protein (MOMP) in C. jejuni were identified as bacterial adhesins that bound to the CSA. The ability to bind CSA was also confirmed using recombinant FlgE and MOMP of C. jejuni expressed in Escherichia coli. The present findings suggest that adhesins expressed on C. jejuni cells may bind specifically via proteins present on the skin, as well as by physical attachment.

空肠弯曲菌是全世界细菌性食物中毒的主要原因。由于肠道的定殖，鸡被认为是人类弯曲杆菌感染的主要储库之一。屠宰和加工鸡肉时，the体的整个皮肤都被弯曲杆菌污染。我们观察到，用氢氧化钠处理皮肤后再用PBS清洗后，附着在鸡皮肤上的空肠弯曲杆菌的数量显着减少，这表明粘附因子参与了空肠弯曲杆菌的结合可能存在于皮肤上。通过二维覆盖测定法检测并存在于皮肤表面碱性提取物中的这种潜在的结合相关蛋白，并通过液相色谱质谱法（LC-MS）鉴定。鸡血清白蛋白（CSA）被鉴定为这些碱性提取物中的主要蛋白质，并通过ELISA证实与空肠弯曲杆菌特异性结合。此外，使用相同的方法，空肠弯曲杆菌中的鞭毛钩蛋白E（FlgE）和主要外膜蛋白（MOMP）被鉴定为与CSA结合的细菌粘附素。结合CSA的能力也用重组FlgE和空肠梭菌在大肠杆菌中表达的MOMP证实。目前的发现表明，粘附素表达在空肠弯曲杆菌细胞可以通过皮肤上存在的蛋白质以及通过物理附着特异性结合。