Molecular cloning and tissue distribution of a 26-kilodalton Schistosoma mansoni glutathione S-transferase

A Schistosoma mansoni cDNA library was constructed from the mRNA of adult worms in the expression vector lambda gt11 and screened with a rabbit antiserum raised against the 26-kDa S. mansoni glutathione S-transferase isoforms (Sm GST 26). Two clones were selected and the nucleotide sequences deduced. The predicted amino acid sequence, specified by these cDNAs, shows strong homology with a Schistosoma japonicum 26 kDa glutathione S-transferase and a lower level of homology with mammalian glutathione S-transferase class mu isoenzymes (EC 2.5.1.18). No significant homology score was found with a 28-kDa S. mansoni glutathione S-transferase (Sm GST 28). A study of the tissue distribution of the cloned Sm GST 26 by immunoelectron microscopy shows similarities to Sm GST 28 in that they are present in the tegument and in subtegumentary parenchymal cells. However, a major difference exists in the protonephridial region in which Sm GST 26 is present in the cytoplasmic digitations localized in the apical chamber delineated by the flame cell body, suggesting that Sm GST 26 may be actively excreted by adult worms.     

Detection of terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase in acute leukemias using monoclonal antibodies directed against native and denatured sites

Monoclonal antibodies (MoAb) directed against human terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase (TdT) have been developed recently. The authors evaluated the reactivity of two TdT MoAb, one directed against a native site and the other against a denatured site, in bone marrow samples from patients with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) and acute myelogenous leukemia (AML). Results were correlated with the immunophenotype and compared with those obtained with an anti-TdT polyclonal antibody (PoAb). The authors found that 39 of the 45 children (87%) with ALL were positive with the anti-TdT PoAb, while only 25 of 45 (56%) were positive using MoAb. In the 41 of 45 cases of ALL for which marker studies were available, there was no relationship between immunophenotype and reactivity with the PoAb or either MoAb. Five cases of AML were studied and two were positive using the PoAb, but none showed staining with the MoAb. The authors' findings demonstrate that, although MoAb may be used to detect TdT in acute leukemia, the two MoAb used do not correlate with immunophenotype and are less sensitive than the PoAb. However, the MoAb appears to demonstrate more specificity for ALL than the PoAb, since it was not reactive in PoAb+ AML.     

Cloning of a Schistosoma japonicum gene encoding a major immunogen recognized by hyperinfected rabbits

A library of randomly sheared Schistosoma japonicum genomic DNA fragments was constructed in the bacteriophage expression vector lambda gt11. A portion of the library was screened with sera collected from rabbits 8 weeks after they were infected with 1000 cercariae. Four clones whose recombinant gene products react with the rabbit sera were purified to homogeneity. Clone SjIR-12A was chosen for detailed study because of its very intense reaction with the rabbit sera. SjIR-12A was found to encode part of a 70 kDa protein (Sj70) that is present in both soluble egg antigen (SEA) and soluble worm antigen preparations (SWAP). Western blot analysis suggests that Sj70 is the only SWAP component that is strongly immunoreactive with the rabbit sera. Rabbit antibodies that react with the SjIR-12A fusion protein were immunoaffinity purified and used to localize immunoreactive product to the nervous tissue of male and female adult worms, the dorsal and lateral tegument of male adult worms, and in eggs to the miracidial tegument and the area between the eggshell and miracidium. Southern hybridization analysis suggests there are approximately four copies of the Sj70 gene per haploid genome.     

Identification of circulating antibodies in fasciolosis and localization of 66 kDa antigenic target using monoclonal antibodies.

We identified three specific circulating antibodies in serum of cattle naturally infected with Fasciola gigantica. Two of the antibodies were found to react specifically to 97 and 66 kDa antigenic molecules of adult worm tegumental membrane extract. The third antibody was identified by the reaction with 26-28 kDa molecule of the excretory/secretory antigens. Monoclonal antibody against 66 kDa protein was developed and used for localization of its antigenic target in adult worm frozen sections. The experiment demonstrated that 66 kDa protein is a component on the outer surface membrane and on the membrane lining of the caecal epithelial of adult worm. The 66 kDa antigen was considered as a promising candidate for immunodiagnosis and vaccine.     

Characterization of a profilin-like protein from <Emphasis Type="Italic">Schistosoma japonicum,</Emphasis> a potential new vaccine candidate

The tegumental membrane of platyhelminth parasites is of crucial importance for modulation of the host response and parasite survival. A complementary deoxyribonucleic acid (cDNA) containing an open reading frame of 390 bp, which encodes a profilin-like tegumental protein with a theoretical isoelectric point of 6.02 and a molecular weight of 14.42 kDa, had been identified by bioinformatic analysis. The coding region of the cDNA was cloned into the prokaryotic expression vector pGEX-4T-1 and expressed in Escherichia coli. The purified recombinant protein named rSj15 was immunogenic and could elicit a high titer of antibody in mice. Western blot analysis revealed that the protein was differentially expressed during the different growth stages of Schistosoma japonicum. Immunohistochemical analysis localized the protein to the tegument and underlying tissue of the S. japonicum adult worm. The rSj15 could induce the expressions of IL-12 in the cultured mouse dendritic cell.     

Isolation and characterisation of discoid granules from the tegument of adult Schistosoma mansoni

Discoid granules were isolated from the tegument of adult Schistosoma mansoni by differential centrifugation of freeze-thaw extracts. Comparison of proteins and glycoproteins from discoid granules, surface membranes and the soluble fraction implied that discoid granules and the surface membrane were functionally linked. The results are discussed in terms of discoid granule function and surface membrane organisation.     

Immunobiochemical analysis of cross-reactive glutathione-S-transferase allergen from different fungal sources

Clinical observations suggest the presence of cross-reactive allergens. There is a need to identify these cross-reactive allergens to improve the treatment used for allergic disorders. The present study was aimed to identify and characterize a cross-reactive allergenic protein from fungi. Allergen extracts of various fungi viz. Alternaria alternata, Aspergillus fumigatus, Cladosporium herbarum, Curvularia lunata, and Epicoccum purpurascens showed GST enzymatic activity ranging from 0.765 to 1.004 delta340 nm/min/microg where as activity of rGST was 1.123 delta340 nm/min/microg. Immunoblot with GST antibodies showed a band of approximately 26 kDa in all these fungal extracts. Sera of fungal allergy patients showed the presence of IgE antibodies to GST. Rabbit antibodies raised against the fungal extracts reacted with rGST confirming the presence of GST-like protein in these extract. ELISA inhibition using GST antibodies revealed inhibition with C. herbarum, A. alternata, C. lunata, A. fumigatus, and E. purpurascens demonstrating that fungal GST competes for binding to anti-GST. In summary, a GST-like protein was recognized as cross-reactive allergen in these fungal extracts.     

An analysis of the calcium-binding protein 1 of Fasciola gigantica with a comparison to its homologs in the phylum Platyhelminthes

A full-length cDNA encoding the Fasciola gigantica calcium-binding protein 1 (FgCaBP1) was cloned from an adult stage cDNA expression library in an immunoscreen using rabbit immune serum against the parasite's excretion/secretion antigens. The deduced amino acid sequence showed 96.3% identity to Fh22CBP of Fasciola hepatica. During development in the mammalian host FgCaBP1 RNA was detected in metacercariae, juveniles and adults and was exclusively localized to the tegumental cell bodies. Immune serum of a rabbit infected with F. gigantica detected recombinant FgCaBP1 starting from the sixth week of infection. Immune sera of mice infected with Schistosoma mansoni and Schistosoma mekongi cross-reacted with recombinant FgCaBP1 in immunoblots. Recombinant FgCaBP1 showed calcium and magnesium-binding activity by a mobility shift during non-denaturing PAGE in the presence of Ca2+ or Mg2+, respectively. A polyclonal mouse anti-rFgCaBP1 antiserum detected the native protein as a major component of the parasite's tegumental antigens in immunoblots and as a strictly tegumental antigen in tissue cross-sections of adult and juvenile parasites. Comparative sequence analysis of homologs from Fasciola and Schistosoma present in the GenBank database revealed sequence signatures specific to these trematode proteins and thereby indicates their origin from a single ancestor. FgCaBP1 contains two adjacent, N-terminal located EF-hands and a C-terminal located domain similar to dynein light chain type 1. Independent structure predictions of the two domains suggest that they will fold according to the already determined structures of the EF-hand motif and the dynein light chain type 1 proteins.     

用噬菌体肽库筛选重组日本血吸虫线粒体相关蛋白的表位

目的：筛选和鉴定重组的日本血吸虫（中国大陆株）线粒体相关蛋白rSj38的表位。方法：用纯化的rSj338/26GST免疫家兔获得抗rSj338/26GST的多克隆抗体IgG，将抗体进一步纯化，获得抗rSj338单特异多克隆抗体IgG。用纯化抗rSj338抗体对噬菌体12肽库进行5轮免疫学筛选，挑取克隆。采用Western blot免疫识别，核苷酸序列测定分析其获得的表位并与rSj338/26GST进行同源性比较。将获得的不同表位的阳性克隆分别免疫小鼠，并采用Western blot及dot-ELISA方法筛选能刺激小鼠产生较高滴度抗rSj338抗体的阳性克隆，并将阳性噬菌体免疫的小鼠血清对纯化的rSj338/26GST,26GST，日本血吸虫成虫及虫卵抗原进行Western blot识别。结果：经5轮免疫学筛选后挑取的32个克隆，用Western blot方法30个克隆能被抗rSj338抗体识别，核苷酸序列分析发现共有11种表位，与rSj338无一级结构的同源性。经动物免疫初步实验筛选。共获得4个免疫原性较强的阳性克隆，其免疫鼠血清均可识别rSj338/26GST，日本血吸虫成虫及虫卵抗原。结论：获得了4种日本血吸虫中国大陆株线粒体相关蛋白rSj338的表位，均为模拟表位，这将为日本血吸虫病的疫苗研究开辟新的途径。     

A New Surface Antigen on Human Lymphocytes Defined by the Murine Monoclonal Antibody IVF7

The murine monoclonal antibody (MoAb) IVF7 was produced against tumour cells from a patient with a CD3+, CD4+, CD8- T-cell chronic lymphatic leukaemia (T-CLL). The MoAb IVF7 showed reactivity with subpopulations of normal peripheral blood lymphocytes (PBL), as well as with a few cell lines of haematopoietic origin. Thirty-six per cent of PBL were stained with IVF7. Analysing subpopulations, we found that 80% of NK cells, 25% of T cells, and 10-20% of B cells were positive. The myelomonocytic cell line KG-1 was also stained. The molecular weight of the molecule was 40 kDa under reducing conditions. The antigen was found to be trypsin-sensitive. MoAb IVF7 could modulate the antigen from the cell surface. The antibody did not stimulate PBL to DNA synthesis, nor did it significantly influence NK cell-mediated killing.     

Ultrastructural alterations of juvenile <Emphasis Type="Italic">Schistosoma japonicum</Emphasis> harbored in mice following mefloquine administration

The aim of the present study was to assess the ultrastructural alterations of juvenile Schistosoma japonicum induced by mefloquine. Mice infected with 14-day-old S. japonicum were treated orally with mefloquine at a single dose of 400 mg/kg. Between 8 h and 7 days after treatment, groups of two mice were sacrificed, and schistosomula were recovered for transmission electron microscopic observations. Ultrastructural damage was seen in the tegument, subtegumental musculature, parenchymal tissues, and gut epithelial cell. It was already prominent 8 h after drug administration and increased in severity rapidly to reach a peak 3 days post-treatment. Tegumental alterations were characterized by emergence of irregular and elongated cytoplasmic processes, which further fused together accompanied by indistinction of matrix and roughness of external plasma membrane. Meanwhile, in the subtegument, damage to the syncytium, swelling, and lysis of muscle bundles and parenchymal tissues were universal, which further aggravated the lesion on the tegument, followed by collapse or disintegration of damaged tegument to form numerous fragment or debris of cytoplasmic process detached from the worm surface. Severe damage to the gut epithelial cell was also observed 8 h post-mefloquine treatment, which included focal lysis of cytoplasm accompanied by formation of vacuoles and degeneration of mitochondria, emergence of enlarged and contracted nucleus with indistinct or focal disrupted nuclear membrane, and decrease in microvilli. All these alterations further increased in severity and reached the peak 3 days post-treatment. The findings of our study indicate that mefloquine exhibits a fast and potent ability to cause extensive ultrastructural damage to juvenile S. japonicum, which correlates with its high efficacy against juvenile schistosomes.     

Immunobiochemical Analysis of Cross-Reactive Glutathione-S-Transferase Allergen from Different Fungal Sources

Clinical observations suggest the presence of cross-reactive allergens. There is a need to identify these cross-reactive allergens to improve the treatment used for allergic disorders. The present study was aimed to identify and characterize a cross-reactive allergenic protein from fungi. Allergen extracts of various fungi viz. Alternaria alternata, Aspergillus fumigatus, Cladosporium herbarum, Curvularia lunata, and Epicoccum purpurascens showed GST enzymatic activity ranging from 0.765 to 1.004 Δ340 nm/min/µg where as activity of rGST was 1.123 Δ340 nm/min/µg. Immunoblot with GST antibodies showed a band of approximately 26 kDa in all these fungal extracts. Sera of fungal allergy patients showed the presence of IgE antibodies to GST. Rabbit antibodies raised against the fungal extracts reacted with rGST confirming the presence of GST-like protein in these extract. ELISA inhibition using GST antibodies revealed inhibition with C. herbarum, A. alternata, C. lunata, A. fumigatus, and E. purpurascens demonstrating that fungal GST competes for binding to anti-GST. In summary, a GST-like protein was recognized as cross-reactive allergen in these fungal extracts.     

A recombinant surface protein of Babesia bovis elicits bovine antibodies that react with live merozoites

Ten monoclonal antibodies (MoAbs) were generated against five surface-exposed proteins (16 kDa, 42 kDa, 44 kDa, 60 kDa, 225 kDa) on merozoites of Babesia bovis. A genomic library constructed in the lambda gt11 expression vector was screened with MoAbs in a plaque immunoassay for identification of clones expressing recombinant surface proteins. Two recombinant clones were identified (lambda Bo44-15 and lambda Bo44-16) that encoded a protein recognized by a MoAb specific for an epitope on the native 44-kDa surface protein. Southern blot analysis using radiolabeled Bo44-15 DNA (1.25 kb) against merozoite DNA and bovine leukocyte DNA confirmed the parasite-specificity of the cloned insert and revealed multiple bands of hybridization with merozoite DNA. Western blot analyses of lambda Bo44-15 lysogen preparations demonstrated that recombinant protein production in this clone was IPTG-induced and that the recombinant molecule was a beta-galactosidase fusion protein. Additionally, recombinant 44-kDa protein, purified by immunoaffinity chromatography, reacted with specific MoAb in Western blot assay indicating that the integrity of the epitope was retained during purification. Immune sera from calves immunized with purified recombinant Bo44-15 protein immunoprecipitated metabolically radiolabeled merozoite protein of 44 kDa indicating that antibody induced by recombinant Bo44-15 protein recognized native 44-kDa protein. Also, these sera reacted with the surface of live merozoites as evidenced by indirect immunofluorescence assay. Serum antibody titers determined by this assay had a wide range.     

Anomalous Immunogenic Properties of Serine Proteases

It has previously been shown that a ∼27 kDa serine protease of Schistosoma mansoni larvae, the cercarial elastase (CE), was a poor immunogen in as much as it failed to induce an antibody response. The CE has a critical role in enabling schistosome larvae to penetrate the skin of their definitive hosts, so the apparently poor immunogenicity of this enzyme is clearly of interest. To understand its lack of immunogenicity better and in particular to determine whether it is related to its proteolytic activity, we have measured antibody responses of mice to three different serine proteases. Groups of mice were immunized with porcine pancreatic trypsin (TRY), chymotrypsin (CHY) or elastase (ELA) and the resulting antibody response compared with antibody responses to two non-protease antigens, chicken egg albumin (OVA) and Schistosoma japonicum glutathione S-transferase (GST), all being administered with alum as an adjuvant. Of 12 mice that were injected five times at 14 day intervals with TRY, only one produced antibody reactive with this enzyme in ELISA. Immunizations with CHY or ELA induced somewhat better antibody responses than TRY, but the responses to the first and second injections of these two proteases nevertheless seemed comparatively lower than the responses to GST. Induction of antibody responses by OVA and GST was not affected when TRY was injected concomitantly. Thus, the antibody response to one of the serine proteases used in this study, mammalian trypsin, was anomalous.     

Caveolae-like structures in the surface membrane of Schistosoma mansoni

Specialized regions of cellular membranes termed detergent-insoluble glycosphingolipid-enriched membrane domains (DIG) have been identified in mammalian cells and shown to contain signalling molecules, cholesterol, sphingolipids and caveolae. Here we report that the unusual double surface membrane of the tegument of the trematode parasite Schistosoma mansoni possesses biochemically distinct domains analogous to DIG. When subjected to sucrose density gradient centrifugation, a detergent-extracted tegument from adult parasites yielded a low-density fraction consisting of detergent-insoluble complexes (DIC). Several tegument proteins were concentrated in DIC and a subset of these were labelled when adult schistosomes were biotinylated using a membrane-impermeant reactive biotin prior to extraction. The GPI-linked proteins alkaline phosphatase (SmAP), Sm200, the membrane-bound protein Sm23, and a protein recognized by an antibody against human caveolin, co-purified with DIC whereas soluble proteins, such as paramyosin and aldolase, were found at the bottom of the gradient. Antibodies against DIC immunoprecipitated a subset of worm surface proteins and immunolabeled the dorsal tegument of adult worms. Transmission electron microscopy of DIC revealed caveolae-like structures in the double bilayer surface structure. These results suggest that the tegument of adult S. mansoni possesses specialized membrane domains that are resistant to detergent-extraction, contain a subset of total tegument membrane proteins, and bear caveola-like invaginations, and thus are analogous to DIG.     

Evidence that the 32, 38 and 20 kilodalton surface antigens of schistosomula and schistosomes are a family of conserved proteins

The structures of the 38, 32 and 20 kDa surface antigens isolated from schistosomula and adult worms of Schistosoma mansoni were compared by two-dimensional peptide mapping, by immunological analysis and by one- and two-dimensional electrophoresis. Peptide mapping showed a high degree of similarity between the isolated antigens from both parasite stages. The NIMP/M47 monoclonal antibody showed cross-reactivity between the 32 and the 20 kDa antigens under denaturating and non-denaturating conditions, as demonstrated by immunoprecipitation and Western blotting. It is concluded that these antigens constitute a homologous family of surface antigens.     

The fine structure of the tegument and associated structures of the cercaria of Schistosoma mansoni

Summary The tegument of the cercaria of Schistosoma mansoni resembles that of the adult in its basic organization but differs considerably in detail. The outer level of the cercarial tegument is thinner and contains several types of inclusion not found in the adult. Only rod-like bodies are characteristic of both stages. Although the cercarial spines are smaller than those of the adult they possess an identical substructure. The uniciliate sensory structures of the cercaria differ from those of the adult in that the cilium of the cercarial structure is not ensheathed in tegumental material. A second type of sensory structure bearing several cilia is located at the anterior tip of the cercaria. Three morphologically distinct types of penetration gland can be distinguished and the content of each is described.