Global Health and Tropical Medicine, Institute of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, Universidade Nova de Lisboa, Lisbon, Portugal.
Immunoparasitology Laboratory, Department of Clinical and Toxicological Analysis, Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte, Natal, Brazil.
Protein J. 2019 Feb;38(1):50-57. doi: 10.1007/s10930-018-09808-1.
Trypanosoma brucei is the etiological agent of African trypanosomiasis responsible for human and animal infections. T. brucei is transmitted by infected tsetse flies. There is no vaccine for the disease and drugs available for treatment are inefficient and high toxicity. In this context, it is a priority to find antigenic targets suitable for the development of new diagnostic tools, drugs and vaccines. In this work, we report that mice infected with T. b. brucei produce antibodies against trans-sialidase recombinant protein (TS). In addition, we also demonstrate that bloodstream T. b. brucei express messenger RNA related to the TS gene. Collectively, our data strongly suggest that bloodstream forms of T. b. brucei also express the TS gene, that to date was described only in the procyclic forms of the T. b. brucei. In conclusion, these results highlight the importance of TS protein as a possible antigen target during infection caused by T. b. brucei.
布氏锥虫是引起人类和动物感染的非洲锥虫病的病原体。布氏锥虫通过受感染的采采蝇传播。目前尚无针对该疾病的疫苗，而现有的治疗药物效率低下且毒性高。在这种情况下，优先寻找适合开发新诊断工具、药物和疫苗的抗原靶标至关重要。在这项工作中，我们报告说感染 T. b. brucei 的小鼠会产生针对转涎酶重组蛋白 (TS) 的抗体。此外，我们还证明血液中的 T. b. brucei 表达与 TS 基因相关的信使 RNA。总的来说，我们的数据强烈表明，迄今为止仅在 T. b. brucei 的前鞭毛体中描述的血液形式的 T. b. brucei 也表达 TS 基因。总之，这些结果强调了 TS 蛋白作为 T. b. brucei 感染期间的一个潜在抗原靶标的重要性。
