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Monoclonal antibodies to secreted antigens of Brugia malayi define a cross‐reactive non‐phosphocholine determinant on helminth parasites
Author(s) -
LAL RENU B.
Publication year - 1991
Publication title -
immunology and cell biology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.999
H-Index - 104
eISSN - 1440-1711
pISSN - 0818-9641
DOI - 10.1038/icb.1991.19
Subject(s) - brugia malayi , epitope , antigen , wuchereria bancrofti , biology , monoclonal antibody , lymphatic filariasis , antibody , phosphocholine , microbiology and biotechnology , immunology , helminths , filariasis , biochemistry , phospholipid , membrane , phosphatidylcholine
Summary The excretory‐secretory (ES) antigens of the filarial parasite Brugia malayi adult (BmA) and microfilariae (MF) were analysed for differences in their protein composition by two‐dimensional gel electrophoresis. Both BmA and MF biosynthetically labelled with [ 3 H]‐leucine released a 200 kD molecule with pi (isoelectric point) ranging from 5.1 to 6.8. A monoclonal antibody (MoAb) to phosphocholine (PC) immunoprecipitated the 200 kD molecule with a PI of 5.1–5.3 from both BmA and MF. Immunization of CBA/N mice with ES antigens resulted in MoAb that reacted with PC, as well as some that did not (ES‐1, ES‐2 and ES‐3). The epitopes recognized by these non‐PC MoAb varied greatly in their molecular weight, heat‐resistance, TCA‐solubility and metaperiodate‐sensitivity. which suggests a proteoglycan nature of the epitope. An antigen capture assay using ES‐l and ES‐3 detected a circulating filarial antigen not only in patients infected with Wuchereria bancrofti (77–83% of those with asymptomatic microfilaraemia and 52–60% of those with chronic lymphatic obstruction) but also in serum from patients infected with other helminth parasites 12–100%). Indeed, the epitope recognized by these MoAb was also present on other helminth parasites, which suggests conservation of a carbohydrate‐like prosthetic group(s) on diverse helminth species.