Skip to main content
NCBI home page
Infection and Immunity logoLink to Infection and Immunity
. 1987 Mar;55(3):778–783. doi: 10.1128/iai.55.3.778-783.1987

Strain-specific antigens of Toxoplasma gondii.

P L Ware, L H Kasper
PMCID: PMC260410  PMID: 3818098

Abstract

A detailed immunological assessment of strain-specific antigens of Toxoplasma gondii has not been reported. We developed rabbit antisera against three strains of toxoplasma obtained from divergent sources. These strains included the frequently studied laboratory strain RH, strain C, obtained from a naturally infected kitten, and strain P, which is maintained by passage in mice. The rabbit antisera were used to identify unique strain-specific and commonly shared tachyzoite antigens by radioiodination followed by immunoprecipitation and Western blot analysis. Both qualitative and quantitative differences of a number of the major tachyzoite antigens were found in these assays. A parasite plaque reduction assay using parasiticidal monoclonal antibody showed marked differences in the ability to kill these three different tachyzoite subtypes, further supporting antigenic variation among T. gondii strains.

Full text

PDF
778

Images in this article

779Image
on p.779
780Image
on p.780
780Image
on p.780
781Image
on p.781
781Image
on p.781
782Image
on p.782

Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

  1. Dubey J. P., Miller N. L., Frenkel J. K. The Toxoplasma gondii oocyst from cat feces. J Exp Med. 1970 Oct 1;132(4):636–662. doi: 10.1084/jem.132.4.636. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. Frenkel J. K., Dubey J. P., Hoff R. L. Loss of stages after continuous passage of Toxoplasma gondii and Besnoitia jellisoni. J Protozool. 1976 Aug;23(3):421–424. doi: 10.1111/j.1550-7408.1976.tb03799.x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. Frenkel J. K., Dubey J. P., Miller N. L. Toxoplasma gondii in cats: fecal stages identified as coccidian oocysts. Science. 1970 Feb 6;167(3919):893–896. doi: 10.1126/science.167.3919.893. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. Frenkel J. K., Dubey J. P., Miller N. L. Toxoplasma gondii: fecal forms separated from eggs of the nematode Toxocara cati. Science. 1969 Apr 25;164(3878):432–433. doi: 10.1126/science.164.3878.432. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. Handman E., Goding J. W., Remington J. S. Detection and characterization of membrane antigens of Toxoplasma gondii. J Immunol. 1980 Jun;124(6):2578–2583. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. Handman E., Remington J. S. Antibody responses to toxoplasma antigens in mice infected with strains of different virulence. Infect Immun. 1980 Jul;29(1):215–220. doi: 10.1128/iai.29.1.215-220.1980. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. Hoshino-Shimizu S., Mineo J. R., Camargo M. E. Lectin used in the purification process of Toxoplasma gondii tachyzoites. J Parasitol. 1980 Dec;66(6):989–991. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. Johnson A. M., McDonald P. J., Neoh S. H. Molecular weight analysis of the major polypeptides and glycopeptides of Toxoplasma gondii. Biochem Biophys Res Commun. 1981 Jun 16;100(3):934–943. doi: 10.1016/0006-291x(81)91913-6. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. KAUFMAN H. E., REMINGTON J. S., JACOBS L. Toxoplasmosis: the nature of virulence. Am J Ophthalmol. 1958 Nov;46(5 Pt 2):255–261. doi: 10.1016/0002-9394(58)90805-5. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. Kasper L. H., Bradley M. S., Pfefferkorn E. R. Identification of stage-specific sporozoite antigens of Toxoplasma gondii by monoclonal antibodies. J Immunol. 1984 Jan;132(1):443–449. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. Kasper L. H., Crabb J. H., Pfefferkorn E. R. Isolation and characterization of a monoclonal antibody-resistant antigenic mutant of Toxoplasma gondii. J Immunol. 1982 Oct;129(4):1694–1699. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  12. Kasper L. H., Crabb J. H., Pfefferkorn E. R. Purification of a major membrane protein of Toxoplasma gondii by immunoabsorption with a monoclonal antibody. J Immunol. 1983 May;130(5):2407–2412. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  13. Kasper L. H., Ware P. L. Recognition and characterization of stage-specific oocyst/sporozoite antigens of Toxoplasma gondii by human antisera. J Clin Invest. 1985 May;75(5):1570–1577. doi: 10.1172/JCI111862. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  14. Lunde M. N., Jacobs L. Antigenic differences between endozoites and cystozoites of Toxoplasma gondii. J Parasitol. 1983 Oct;69(5):806–808. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  15. Mauras G., Dodeur M., Laget P., Senet J. M., Bourrillon R. Partial resolution of the sugar content of Toxoplasma gondii membrane. Biochem Biophys Res Commun. 1980 Dec 16;97(3):906–912. doi: 10.1016/0006-291x(80)91462-x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  16. Naot Y., Guptill D. R., Mullenax J., Remington J. S. Characterization of Toxoplasma gondii antigens that react with human immunoglobulin M and immunoglobulin G antibodies. Infect Immun. 1983 Jul;41(1):331–338. doi: 10.1128/iai.41.1.331-338.1983. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  17. Pfefferkorn E. R., Pfefferkorn L. C. Toxoplasma gondii: isolation and preliminary characterization of temperature-sensitive mutants. Exp Parasitol. 1976 Jun;39(3):365–376. doi: 10.1016/0014-4894(76)90040-0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  18. Sethi K. K., Rahman A., Pelster B., Brandis H. Search for the presence of lectin-binding sites on Toxoplasma gondii. J Parasitol. 1977 Dec;63(6):1076–1080. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  19. Sharma S. D., Mullenax J., Araujo F. G., Erlich H. A., Remington J. S. Western Blot analysis of the antigens of Toxoplasma gondii recognized by human IgM and IgG antibodies. J Immunol. 1983 Aug;131(2):977–983. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  20. Suggs M., Walls K. W., Kagan I. G. Comparative antigenic study of Besnoitia jellisoni, B. Panamenis and five Toxoplasma gondii isolates. J Immunol. 1968 Jul;101(1):166–175. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  21. Towbin H., Staehelin T., Gordon J. Electrophoretic transfer of proteins from polyacrylamide gels to nitrocellulose sheets: procedure and some applications. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1979 Sep;76(9):4350–4354. doi: 10.1073/pnas.76.9.4350. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from Infection and Immunity are provided here courtesy of American Society for Microbiology (ASM)

RESOURCES