Abstract

In the study of the human filariases, progress has been hampered by: 1) the lack of defined parasite antigens; 2) the broad immunological cross-reactivity seen among the eight filarial species of humans; and 3) the dearth of abundant parasite material. The objectives of this project are to define and generate filarial proteins that are important in including parasite-specific immune response in the human host and to understand, at a molecular level, the differences among related filarial species. cDNA and genomic libraries have been either constructed (Brugia malayi and Wuchereria bancrofti) or made available (Onchocerca volvulus) so that screening with defined patient sera or patient T cells could be performed. Recombinant antigens and probes have been identified that: a) induce T cell responses in an antigen- specific manner; b) may be in part protective in onchocerciasis; c) can distinguish among related filarial species by restriction fragment length polymorphisms; d) encode for an immunodominant molecular in W. bancrofti; and e) identify a tandemly repeated segment of the W. bancrofti genome.

  Funding Agency

Agency
National Institute of Health (NIH)
Institute
National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID)
Type
Intramural Research (Z01)
Project #
1Z01AI000512-02
Application #
3818281
Study Section
Project Start
Project End
Budget Start
Budget End
Support Year
2
Fiscal Year
1988
Total Cost
Indirect Cost

  Institution

Name
Niaid Extramural Activities
Department
Type
DUNS #
City
State
Country
United States
Zip Code

  Publications

Ghedin, Elodie; Wang, Shiliang; Spiro, David et al. (2007) Draft genome of the filarial nematode parasite Brugia malayi. Science 317:1756-60
Gomez Gallego, Sara; Loukas, Alex; Slade, Robert W et al. (2005) Identification of an astacin-like metallo-proteinase transcript from the infective larvae of Strongyloides stercoralis. Parasitol Int 54:123-33
Ravi, Varatharajalu; King, Te Piao; Andersen, John F et al. (2005) Strongyloides stercoralis recombinant NIE antigen shares epitope with recombinant Ves v 5 and Pol a 5 allergens of insects. Am J Trop Med Hyg 72:549-53
Kerepesi, Laura A; Keiser, Paul B; Nolan, Thomas J et al. (2005) DNA immunization with Na+-K+ ATPase (Sseat-6) induces protective immunity to larval Strongyloides stercoralis in mice. Infect Immun 73:2298-305
Gnanasekar, Munirathinam; Rao, Kakaturu V N; He, Yi-Xun et al. (2004) Novel phage display-based subtractive screening to identify vaccine candidates of Brugia malayi. Infect Immun 72:4707-15
Kerepesi, Laura A; Nolan, Thomas J; Schad, Gerhard A et al. (2004) Human immunoglobulin G mediates protective immunity and identifies protective antigens against larval Strongyloides stercoralis in mice. J Infect Dis 189:1282-90
Mitreva, Makedonka; McCarter, James P; Martin, John et al. (2004) Comparative genomics of gene expression in the parasitic and free-living nematodes Strongyloides stercoralis and Caenorhabditis elegans. Genome Res 14:209-20
Ravi, V; Kubofcik, J; Bandopathyaya, S et al. (2004) Wuchereria bancrofti: cloning and characterization of heat shock protein 70 from the human lymphatic filarial parasite. Exp Parasitol 106:1-10
Wu, Yang; Egerton, Gillian; McCarthy, James et al. (2003) Human immune responses to infective stage larval-specific chitinase of filarial parasite, Onchocerca volvulus, Ov-CHI-1. Filaria J 2:6
Klion, Amy D; Vijaykumar, Aarthi; Oei, Tamara et al. (2003) Serum immunoglobulin G4 antibodies to the recombinant antigen, Ll-SXP-1, are highly specific for Loa loa infection. J Infect Dis 187:128-33

Showing the most recent 10 out of 12 publications