Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-dh8gc Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-08T07:55:46.575Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Successful detection, expression and purification of the alternatively spliced truncated Sm14 antigen of an Egyptian strain of Schistosoma mansoni

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  24 July 2014

R.E. Ewaisha
Affiliation:
Department of Pharmaceutical Microbiology, Faculty of Pharmacy, Alexandria University, Alexandria, Egypt
M. Bahey-El-Din*
Affiliation:
Department of Pharmaceutical Microbiology, Faculty of Pharmacy, Alexandria University, Alexandria, Egypt
S.F. Mossallam
Affiliation:
Department of Medical Parasitology, Faculty of Medicine, Alexandria University, Alexandria, Egypt
A.M. Khalil
Affiliation:
Department of Pharmaceutical Microbiology, Faculty of Pharmacy, Alexandria University, Alexandria, Egypt
H.M. Aboushleib
Affiliation:
Department of Pharmaceutical Microbiology, Faculty of Pharmacy, Alexandria University, Alexandria, Egypt
*
*Fax: +2 034873273 E-mail: [email protected]

Abstract

Schistosoma mansoni causes intestinal schistosomiasis, a disease that is prevalent in several regions worldwide. To date, a protective vaccine against S. mansoni is still lacking. Several promising antigens have been discovered and evaluated for vaccine protection, such as Sm14 and Sm28GST. In this short communication, we report the successful detection of an alternatively spliced truncated form of Sm14 which was highly expressed in an Egyptian strain of S. mansoni. This truncated Sm14 (TrSm14) protein was formerly reported to be practically non-existent and its complementary DNA (cDNA) was thought to be ‘a rare misprocessing of mRNA precursor’. Our finding demonstrates that there is inter-strain variation in the S. mansoni transcriptome and subsequently in the role/function of the expressed proteins. We expressed TrSm14 successfully in Escherichia coli as a fusion protein with the schistosomal antigen Sm28GST. The fusion protein was purified using metal affinity chromatography and was found to be reactive with serum from S. mansoni-infected patients. This suggests a possible diagnostic value for this protein in detection of anti-schistosomal antibodies. In addition, this fusion protein could offer a potential bivalent vaccine candidate against S. mansoni that is worthy of further investigation.

Type
Short Communications
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2014 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Angelucci, F., Johnson, K.A., Baiocco, P., Miele, A.E., Brunori, M., Valle, C., Vigorosi, F., Troiani, A.R., Liberti, P., Cioli, D., Klinkert, M.Q. & Bellelli, A. (2004) Schistosoma mansoni fatty acid binding protein: specificity and functional control as revealed by crystallographic structure. Biochemistry 43, 1300013011.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Balloul, J.M., Sondermeyer, P., Dreyer, D., Capron, M., Grzych, J.M., Pierce, R.J., Carvallo, D., Lecocq, J.P. & Capron, A. (1987) Molecular cloning of a protective antigen of schistosomes. Nature 326, 149153.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Brito, C.F., Oliveira, G.C., Oliveira, S.C., Street, M., Riengrojpitak, S., Wilson, R.A., Simpson, A.J. & Correa-Oliveira, R. (2002) Sm14 gene expression in different stages of the Schistosoma mansoni life cycle and immunolocalization of the Sm14 protein within the adult worm. Brazilian Journal of Medical and Biological Research 35, 377381.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Capron, A., Riveau, G., Capron, M. & Trottein, F. (2005) Schistosomes: the road from host–parasite interactions to vaccines in clinical trials. Trends in Parasitology 21, 143149.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Cardoso, F.C., Pacifico, R.N., Mortara, R.A. & Oliveira, S.C. (2006) Human antibody responses of patients living in endemic areas for schistosomiasis to the tegumental protein Sm29 identified through genomic studies. Clinical and Experimental Immunology 144, 382391.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fonseca, C.T., Brito, C.F., Alves, J.B. & Oliveira, S.C. (2004) IL-12 enhances protective immunity in mice engendered by immunization with recombinant 14 kDa Schistosoma mansoni fatty acid-binding protein through an IFN-gamma and TNF-alpha dependent pathway. Vaccine 22, 503510.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Ivanoff, N., Phillips, N., Schacht, A.M., Heydari, C., Capron, A. & Riveau, G. (1996) Mucosal vaccination against schistosomiasis using liposome-associated Sm 28 kDa glutathione S-transferase. Vaccine 14, 11231131.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
King, C.H. (2009) Toward the elimination of schistosomiasis. New England Journal of Medicine 360, 106109.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Moser, D., Tendler, M., Griffiths, G. & Klinkert, M.Q. (1991) A 14-kDa Schistosoma mansoni polypeptide is homologous to a gene family of fatty acid binding proteins. Journal of Biological Chemistry 266, 84478454.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Ramos, C.R., Figueredo, R.C., Pertinhez, T.A., Vilar, M.M., do Nascimento, A.L., Tendler, M., Raw, I., Spisni, A. & Ho, P.L. (2003) Gene structure and M20T polymorphism of the Schistosoma mansoni Sm14 fatty acid-binding protein. Molecular, functional, and immunoprotection analysis. Journal of Biological Chemistry 278, 1274512751.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Ribeiro, F., Vieira Cdos, S., Fernandes, A., Araujo, N. & Katz, N. (2002) The effects of immunization with recombinant Sm14 (rSm14) in reducing worm burden and mortality of mice infected with Schistosoma mansoni. Revista da Sociedade Brasileira de Medicina Tropical 35, 1117.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Riveau, G., Deplanque, D., Remoue, F., Schacht, A.M., Vodougnon, H., Capron, M., Thiry, M., Martial, J., Libersa, C. & Capron, A. (2012) Safety and immunogenicity of rSh28GST antigen in humans: phase 1 randomized clinical study of a vaccine candidate against urinary schistosomiasis. PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases 6, e1704.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Smithers, S.R. & Terry, R.J. (1965) The infection of laboratory hosts with cercariae of Schistosoma mansoni and the recovery of the adult worms. Parasitology 55, 695700.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Tendler, M., Brito, C.A., Vilar, M.M., Serra-Freire, N., Diogo, C.M., Almeida, M.S., Delbem, A.C., Da Silva, J.F., Savino, W., Garratt, R.C., Katz, N. & Simpson, A.S. (1996) A Schistosoma mansoni fatty acid-binding protein, Sm14, is the potential basis of a dual-purpose anti-helminth vaccine. Proceedings of The National Academy of Sciences of The United States of America 93, 269273.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed