Cysticercosis: towards the design of a diagnostic kit based on synthetic peptides.

Cysticercosis caused by Taenia solium is a very common disease in developing countries that seriously affects human health. Diagnosis can only be confirmed with the aid of computerized tomography or nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) creating obvious difficulties for epidemiological studies. Reliable immunoassays employing cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) have been developed, based on the use of cysticercal antigens. However, the reliance on parasite material is restrictive. Herein, we report the advances in the design of a diagnostic kit based on immunodominant synthetic peptides, targeting four candidate epitopes KETc1, KETc12, 410 and 413 which were identified from three different clones (KETc1, 12 and 4) selected from a cDNA library of Taenia crassiceps. CSF antibodies against T. solium cysticercal antigens (TCA) as well as the four peptides were determined by enzyme-linked immunoabsorbent assays (ELISA) using two panels of CSF from patients with confirmed neurocysticercosis and other neurological diseases. In the first CSF panel which included patients with high level of antibodies against TCA, KETc12 exhibited almost the same sensitivity (87.5%) as TCA (93.7%) and 100% specificity. In the second panel of 110 CSF collected at random, two peptides (KETc1 and KETc12) exhibited sensitivities of 40 and 36% respectively, and were 100% specific.

Limitations of current diagnostic procedures for the diagnosis of Taenia solium cysticercosis in rural pigs.

The aim of the present study was to evaluate diagnostic procedures for porcine cysticercosis. Sera were obtained from 32 pigs reared in commercial farms, 47 pigs before and after experimental infection, 42 carefully necropsied rural pigs and 191 slaughtered pigs from rural communities in which the presence of the Taenia solium metacestode was assessed by tongue dissection. Sera were analyzed by ELISA to detect antibodies against T. solium antigens and to detect parasite antigens. Most sera from the necropsied rural pigs were also evaluated by the Western blot method. Antigen and antibody ELISA detection assays showed high sensitivity and specificity when applied to sera from pigs reared in commercial farms. In contrast, all methods (Ag-ELISA, Ab-ELISA assays, EITB and tongue inspection) showed lower sensitivity and specificity when applied to the generally lightly infected rurally reared pigs. The probability distribution of cysts in carcasses were also determined. These results emphasize the difficulties in detecting cysticercosis in rural pigs with low levels of cyst burdens.

A new membrane-bound OprI lipoprotein expression vector. High production of heterologous fusion proteins in gram (-) bacteria and the implications for oral vaccination.

We have previously described the development of cloning vectors for the production of OprI-based outer membrane fusion proteins in E. coli (Cornelis et al., 1996) and now describe the construction of a new vector, containing a lacI(q) gene, resulting in tight repression of the promotor and allowing its use in other Gram (-) bacteria. The new pVUB3 expression vector encodes a truncated but active LacI(q)(341) repressor which binds to the single operator in the vector. A high repression of the trc promotor was observed, resulting in a very low basal leakage of expression and very high production levels of OprI or derivatives after IPTG induction in E. coli. Bacterial viability was not affected under uninduced conditions, but the number of viable cell counts decreased after production of large amounts of the outer membrane-bound OprI lipoprotein and its derivatives, both in E. coli and Salmonella typhimurium. This highly repressible system allows us to extend the use of OprI vectors in other Gram (-) bacteria, resulting in the production of outer membrane-bound lipid-modified molecules, opening the possibility for its application in the design of potential live Salmonella-based subunit vaccines.

Diagnosis of porcine cysticercosis: a comparative study of serological tests for detection of circulating antibody and viable parasites.

Epidemiological studies of porcine cysticercosis require identification of pigs harbouring viable Taenia solium cysticerci and estimates of the degree of exposure to the parasite in the pig population destined for human consumption. Identification of infected pigs with viable larvae is achieved through detection of their secretory products. However, detectable levels of circulating antibody may also be present in the absence of viable larvae. In this study, both types of tests have been evaluated in groups of pigs experimentally infected with T. solium. Detection of viable cysticerci was achieved using a monoclonal antibody-based (HP10) antigen capture assay. HP10 epitope-bearing antigens have now been demonstrated in T. solium and T. crassiceps cyst fluid and excretion/secretions. Serum antibodies were measured in ELISA assays using two parasite preparations as antigens; T. solium cyst fluid and T. crassiceps cyst fluid antigens bearing the HP10 epitope. Low-background values were obtained with sera from non-infected animals in all the assays used. In heavily infected pigs, both antigens and antibodies were detected at least 29 days and up to 200 days post-infection (pi), while in lightly infected pigs antigen and antibodies were first observed between 61-97 days pi. Thus, the levels of the serum antigen and antibody varied with the intensity of the infection.

Characterization of the African swine fever virion protein j18L.

The African swine fever virus (ASFV) open reading frame (ORF) that is named jl8L in the Malawi (LIL20/1) isolate and E199L in the Ba71V isolate encodes a cysteine rich protein of 195 amino acids with a predicted molecular mass of 21.7 kDa and a hydrophobic domain near the C terminus. There are several possible motifs for glycosylation, phosphorylation and myristoylation. Rabbit antisera and monoclonal antibodies raised against a recombinant ASFV j18L protein expressed as a fusion protein with glutathione S-transferase (GST) identified proteins of 19.0-20 kDa in cells infected with different ASFV strains and with a recombinant vaccinia virus expressing j18L. The monoclonal antibodies detected a protein of 20.0 kDa whereas rabbit antisera detected two proteins with relative molecular masses of 15.0 and 20.0 kDa in purified extracellular ASF virions. In ASFV-infected cells, the j18L protein was expressed late post-infection and was localized mainly in the viral factories.

CD38 expression on mouse T cells: CD38 defines functionally distinct subsets of alpha beta TCR+CD4-CD8- thymocytes.

We have examined CD38 expression on mouse lymphocytes using the rat mAb NIM-R5 and demonstrate that CD38 expression is restricted to approximately 8% of thymocytes. Although CD38 is absent from the majority of CD4+CD8- and CD4-CD8+ T cells, we detected a strong correlation between CD38 expression and alpha beta+CD4-CD8- T cells in the thymus, with nearly 80% of alpha beta TCR+CD4-CD8- thymocytes being CD38+. Using heat stable antigen (HSA) and CD38, we divided alpha beta+CD4-CD8- thymocytes into four subsets: HSA+CD38-, HSA-CD38hi, HSA-CD38low and HSA-CD38-. Two established characteristics of alpha beta TCR+CD4-CD8- cells, bias towards V beta 8.2 TCR expression and high levels of IL-4 production, were used to establish a possible relationship between the above thymocyte subsets. Our present data show that the HSA+CD38- subset is not biased towards V beta 8.2 TCR expression whereas the HSA-CD38- subset does show this bias (approximately 47%). Neither of these subsets make IL-4 upon CD3 mediated stimulation. In contrast, the CD38+ subsets are heavily biased toward V beta 8.2 expression and produce large amounts of IL-4 upon stimulation, particularly the CD38low cells. Taken together, these data suggest that these four subsets represent various stages of a possible differentiation pathway for alpha beta TCR+CD4-CD8- cells, with the HSA+CD38- subset being the most immature while the HSA-CD38low subset is the most functionally mature. These characteristics support the view that alpha beta TCR+CD4-CD8- T cells represent an independent lineage with a distinct, but as yet obscure, role in immunity.

The expression of surface IgD on B cells responsive to thymus-independent and thymus-dependent antigens and its requirement for B-cell triggering.

Cells separated by the fluorescence activated cell sorter on the basis of their surface IgD (sIgD) phenotype have been examined for responsiveness to thymus-dependent and thymus-independent antigens. The ability of monoclonal anti-IgD alloantibodies to inhibit responses in vitro to the various classes of antigen has also been investigated. Evidence is presented indicating that both sIgD positive and sIgD negative cells can respond to all types of antigen tested. However, although the presence of sIgD was necessary for the response of sIgD positive cells to thymus-dependent antigens, the presence of this isotype was not obligatory for the response of the sIgD positive population to thymus independent antigens. The possible role of sIgD as the obligatory purveyor of a B-cell activation signal is discussed in the light of these findings.

[Identification of Entamoeba histolytica membrane antigens with antibodies of amebiasis patients]. / Identificación de antigenos de membrana de Entamoeba histolytica con anticuerpos de pacientes de amibiasis.

The specificity of sera from patients with amoebiasis was assayed on trophozoites of E. histolytica HK9, HM15 and HM2 cultured axenically and monoxenically. Glutaraldehyde fixed cell were incubated with samples of serum, the excess of Igs was washed out and the presence of unbound material of specifically bound antibodies was measured with radiolabeled protein A from Staphylococcus aureus. A positive reaction with HK9 was observed in 18 per cent of the 66 sera tested. An immune crossreaction resulted with HM2 and HM15, while no reaction was observed with the nonpathogenic strains E. invadens, E. moshkovskii and E. laredo.

Control of J chain biosynthesis in relation to heavy and light chain synthesis, polymerization and secretion.

Mouse myeloma tumors and some variants derived from them were labeled in vitro with tritiated leucine and the radioactive J chain was assayed in cell lysates by precipitation with an antiserum specific for mouse J chain. The major findings were: 1) J chain can be found in an IgG2b-secreting cells (MPC-11). These data, together with previous findings suggest that cells secreting all classes of IgG synthesize J chain, even though there is no apparent requirement for J chain in assembly of the IgG molecule. Hence production of J chain does not depend upon secretion of a polymeric immunoglobulin. 2) Intracellular J chain can be found in myeloma variants that do not produce heavy chains showing that production of J chain may not coordinately be linked to the synthesis of heavy chain. 3) J chain was found in cells synthesizing, but not secreting, immunoglobulin. Thus production of J chain is not linked to secretion of immunoglobulin. 4) J chain could not be detected in plasma cells that do not produce immunoglobulins. It was also not found in mouse leukemic cells, suggesting that production of J chain is probably linked in some way to immunoglobulin production.