Immunoglobulin domains in Escherichia coli and other enterobacteria: from pathogenesis to applications in antibody technologies

The immunoglobulin (Ig) protein domain is widespread in nature having a well-recognized role in proteins of the immune system. In this review, we describe the proteins containing Ig-like domains in Escherichia coli and enterobacteria, reporting their structural and functional properties, protein folding, and diverse biological roles. In addition, we cover the expression of heterologous Ig domains in E.coli owing to its biotechnological application for expression and selection of antibody fragments and full-length IgG molecules. Ig-like domains in E.coli and enterobacteria are frequently found in cell surface proteins and fimbrial organelles playing important functions during host cell adhesion and invasion of pathogenic strains, being structural components of pilus and nonpilus fimbrial systems and members of the intimin/invasin family of outer membrane (OM) adhesins. Ig-like domains are also found in periplasmic chaperones and OM usher proteins assembling fimbriae, in oxidoreductases and hydrolytic enzymes, ATP-binding cassette transporters, sugar-binding and metal-resistance proteins. The folding of most E.coli Ig-like domains is assisted by periplasmic chaperones, peptidylprolyl cis/trans isomerases and disulfide bond catalysts that also participate in the folding of antibodies expressed in this bacterium. The technologies for expression and selection of recombinant antibodies in E.coli are described along with their biotechnological potential.