ABSTRACT
<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To obtain peptide mimicking epitopes of Schistosoma japonicum (S. japonicum) through screening of a phage peptide library and to test their potential for induction of protection.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>S. japonicum infected sera from Microtus fortis (IMFS) and normal sera from Microtus fortis (NMFS) were used respectively to screen a 12-mers random peptide library by testing the reactivity of anti-S. japonicum serum with the phagotopes. After three rounds of biopanning, the pooled phages were used to immunize mice, after which challenge infection was performed.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>Of 12 randomly picked clones, 10 clones selected using IMFS and 7 clones selected using NMFS were shown to be antigenic. Significant reduction in adult worms (22.6%) and a high reduction (68.9%) in liver eggs were achieved following immunization with phages screened with IMFS. However, no protection was elicited by those selected with NMFS.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>The results show that the phagotopes are both antigenic and immunogenic, suggesting a potential use of phage displayed peptide as novel vaccines against S. japonicum.</p>