Antibody recognition of the hyper-glucosylated adhesin protein HMW1Ct of non-typeable Haemophilus influenzae in Rett syndrome

Rett syndrome (RTT) is an X-linked neurodevelopment disorder associated with the single monogenic mutation in methyl-CpG binding protein 2 (MeCP2) in up to 95 % of cases. The growing number of genome-wide association studies and incomplete concordance for autoimmune diseases in monozygotic twins concur to support the involvement of environmental factors, like infectious agents or chemicals, in the breakdown of tolerance leading to autoimmunity. In fact, the coexistence of a dysregulation of the immune system in RTT patients has been previously hypothesized. We herein explored the hypothesis that an autoimmune component derived from environmental bacterial infection of non-typeable Haemophilus influenzae may coexist in RTT. At this purpose we screened sera from RTT syndrome patients, non-RTT pervasive developmental disorders patients and healthy controls with the hyper-glucosylated adhesin protein HMW1Ct-Glc used as an antigen in ELISA in order to identify specific antibodies to N-glucosylation sites. Results showed that HMW1Ct-Glc is able to significantly discriminate antibodies among RTT sera and controls. Competitive ELISA confirmed the specific interaction between antibodies characteristic of RTT syndrome and the N-glucosylation motifs of the bacterial adhesin protein HMW1Ct-Glc.