Tein, as it is most likely tethered to the inner leaflet of the lipid bilayer. It is anticipated that the data presented here will provide new perspectives on this protein and facilitate studies to elucidate the role(s) of LipL32 in Leptospira biology.shire, England), or anti-human IgG (Sigma-Aldrich, St. Louis, MO), respectively. Immunoblots were visualized by enhanced chemiluminescence reagents according to the manufacturer’s instructions (Thermo Scientific).Affinity purification of LipL32 antibodies from leptospirosis patient seraTwo mg of recombinant LipL32 [17] were coupled to the AminoLink Plus column according to manufacturer’s instructions (Thermo Scientific). Convalescent sera from 23 individuals with laboratory-confirmed leptospirosis were pooled and 800 ml was added to 3.7 ml of 10 mM LIMKI3 phosphate buffered saline, pH 7.4 (PBS) followed by filtration through 0.45 mm filter. Two ml of filtered sera was added to the affinity column and mixed by rotation for 1 h at room temperature. One ml of PBS added to the column, the flow-through (FT) fraction was collected and the rest of filtered sera (2.2 ml) was added to the column repeating the process as described above. The column was washed four times with 2 ml of PBS and LipL32-specific antibodies were recovered by addition of IgG elution buffer (Thermo Scientific) to the affinity column.Materials and Methods Ethics statementThis study was conducted according to principles expressed in the Declaration of Helsinki. Informed written consent was obtained from participants and the study was approved by the Institutional Review Board A of the Research and Development Committee, VA Greater Los Angeles Healthcare System (PCC #2012 – 050702). Co-Author David A. Haake has a patent on leptospiral protein LipL32. This does not alter our adherence to all PLoS 23977191 ONE policies 
on sharing data and materials.Membrane fractionationFor membrane affinity experiments, total membranes were isolated as described previously [26]. Briefly, 56109 leptospiral cells were washed twice with PBS, containing 5 mM MgCl2 and resuspended in 0.9 ml of lysis buffer (10 mM TrisHCl, pH 8.0, 5 mM EDTA, 0.5 protease inhibitor cocktail, Sigma-Aldrich) containing 1 mg/ml of lysozyme. The suspension was incubated for 5 min at 4uC and subjected to three cycles of freezing (280uC) and thawing (room temperature) with vigorous vortexing. Then DNase I (Sigma-Aldrich) was added to a final concentration of 5 mg/ml and the cell suspension was incubated on ice for 20 min. Membranes were recovered by centrifugation at 16,0006 g for 15 min at 4uC and resuspended in 0.5 ml of lysis buffer (without lysozyme). A 100 ml aliquot of the membrane suspension was mixed with 100 ml of either 0.2 M Na2CO3, 3.2 M urea, 1.2 M NaCl, or lysis buffer and incubated for 15 min at 4uC. The samples were pelleted at 16,0006 g for 15 min at 4uC and the supernatants were precipitated with acetone. Each membrane pellet and its supernatant precipitate were resuspended in 50 ml of Novex NuPage sample buffer (Invitrogen, Carlsbad, CA).Bacterial strains and growth conditionsLeptospira interrogans serovar MedChemExpress 58-49-1 Copenhageni strain Fiocruz L1-130 was isolated from a patient during a leptospirosis outbreak in Salvador, Brazil [5]. Leptospires were cultivated at 30uC in ProbuminTM Vaccine Grade Solution (84-066-5, Millipore, Billerica, MA) diluted five-fold into autoclaved distilled water [21]. Competent E. coli NEB 5-a (New England Biolabs, Ipswich, MA), and BLR(DE3)pLysS (Novag.Tein, as it is most likely tethered to the inner leaflet of the lipid bilayer. It is anticipated that the data presented here will provide new perspectives on this protein and facilitate studies to elucidate the role(s) of LipL32 in Leptospira biology.shire, England), or anti-human IgG (Sigma-Aldrich, St. Louis, MO), respectively. Immunoblots were visualized by enhanced chemiluminescence reagents according to the manufacturer’s instructions (Thermo Scientific).Affinity purification of LipL32 antibodies from leptospirosis patient seraTwo mg of recombinant LipL32 [17] were coupled to the AminoLink Plus column according to manufacturer’s instructions (Thermo Scientific). Convalescent sera from 23 individuals with laboratory-confirmed leptospirosis were pooled and 800 ml was added to 3.7 ml of 10 mM phosphate buffered saline, pH 7.4 (PBS) followed by filtration through 0.45 mm filter. Two ml of filtered sera was added to the affinity column and mixed by rotation for 1 h at room temperature. One ml of PBS added to the column, the flow-through (FT) fraction was collected and the rest of filtered sera (2.2 ml) was added to the column repeating the process as described above. The column was washed four times with 2 ml of PBS and LipL32-specific antibodies were recovered by addition of IgG elution buffer (Thermo Scientific) to the affinity column.Materials and Methods Ethics statementThis study was conducted according to principles expressed in the Declaration of Helsinki. Informed written consent was obtained from participants and the study was approved by the Institutional Review Board A of the Research and Development Committee, VA Greater Los Angeles Healthcare System (PCC #2012 – 050702). Co-Author David A. Haake has a patent on leptospiral protein LipL32. This does not alter our adherence to all PLoS 23977191 ONE policies on sharing data and materials.Membrane fractionationFor membrane affinity experiments, total membranes were isolated as described previously [26]. Briefly, 56109 leptospiral cells were washed twice with PBS, containing 5 mM MgCl2 and resuspended in 0.9 ml of lysis buffer (10 mM TrisHCl, pH 8.0, 5 mM EDTA, 0.5 protease inhibitor cocktail, Sigma-Aldrich) containing 1 mg/ml of lysozyme. The suspension was incubated for 5 min at 4uC and subjected to three cycles of freezing (280uC) and thawing (room temperature) with vigorous vortexing. Then DNase I (Sigma-Aldrich) was added to a final concentration of 5 mg/ml and the cell suspension was incubated on ice for 20 min. Membranes were recovered by centrifugation at 16,0006 g for 15 min at 4uC and resuspended in 0.5 ml of lysis buffer (without lysozyme). A 100 ml aliquot of the membrane suspension was mixed with 100 ml of either 0.2 M Na2CO3, 3.2 M urea, 1.2 M NaCl, or lysis buffer and incubated for 15 min at 4uC. The samples were pelleted at 16,0006 g for 15 min at 4uC and the supernatants were precipitated 
with acetone. Each membrane pellet and its supernatant precipitate were resuspended in 50 ml of Novex NuPage sample buffer (Invitrogen, Carlsbad, CA).Bacterial strains and growth conditionsLeptospira interrogans serovar Copenhageni strain Fiocruz L1-130 was isolated from a patient during a leptospirosis outbreak in Salvador, Brazil [5]. Leptospires were cultivated at 30uC in ProbuminTM Vaccine Grade Solution (84-066-5, Millipore, Billerica, MA) diluted five-fold into autoclaved distilled water [21]. Competent E. coli NEB 5-a (New England Biolabs, Ipswich, MA), and BLR(DE3)pLysS (Novag.
