Immunomics analysis of excretory-secretory antigens from 3rd stage larva gnathostoma spinigerum for development of immunodiagnosis

Abstract

The parasite Gnathostoma spinigerum is a causative agent of gnathostomiasis and can be found in several countries. Infection leads to permanent organ damage or death, therefore rapid and reliable diagnosis is necessary and a major priority for effective treatment. In our investigation we determined novel target proteins from excretory-secretory (ES) antigens of 3rd stage G. spinigerum larva using immunomics and mass spectrometry approaches. We prepared ES antigen of G. spinigerum for protein profiling analysis by 2D-gel electrophoresis and subsequently transferred it onto PVDF membrane. The membranes were reacted with G. spinigerum infected or other helminthic infected sera. Results show that approximately seven spots at the molecular size of 12, 20, and 50 kDa represented G. spinigerum infection. Next, these protein spots are going to be analyzed by mass spectrometry and available databases will be searched for annotation. Identifying the type of protein and/or tryptic peptide sequences will be useful for the development of future immunodiagnosis for gnathostomiasis.