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Naegleria Actin Elicits Species‐Specific Antibodies 1
Author(s) -
FULTON CHANDLER,
LAI ELAINE Y.,
LAMOYI EDMUNDO,
SUSSMAN DANIEL J.
Publication year - 1986
Publication title -
the journal of protozoology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.067
H-Index - 77
eISSN - 1550-7408
pISSN - 0022-3921
DOI - 10.1111/j.1550-7408.1986.tb05618.x
Subject(s) - naegleria , naegleria fowleri , radioimmunoassay , biology , antibody , protozoa , actin , acanthamoeba , microbiology and biotechnology , virology , biochemistry , immunology , meningoencephalitis
. Actin, the major protein of amebae of Naegleria gruberi , proved to be strongly immunogenic in rabbits. The resulting precipitating antibodies are specific to actin of Naegleria. In a competitive solid‐phase radioimmunoassay, these antibodies bound similarly to Naegleria G‐ and F‐actin. Actins from amebae of Acanthamoeba and Dictyostelium , plasmodia of Physarum , sea urchin eggs, and vertebrate muscles gave no competition in the radioimmunoassay. Estimates of the amount of actin in Naegleria amebae ranged from a minimum of 5% of the total cell protein by radioimmunoassay to a maximum of 16% by electrophoresis. The unusual species specificity of these antibodies indicates that Naegleria actin, although conserved in many properties, is different enough to have unique antigenic determinants.