Identification of surface proteins of juvenile stages of Fasciola hepatica.

Maturation of newly excysted Fasciola hepatica juvenile flukes in mice is accompanied by distinct changes in the pattern of radiolabelling of surface proteins. The major proteins identified on the surface of newly excysted juvenile flukes have apparent molecular weights of 78,000, 45,500, 30,000, 26,000, 13,500, 13,000 and 10,500 as measured by sodium dodecylsulphate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. By day 7 after infection the 13,000 molecular weight protein is no longer expressed on the surface of the parasite. By day 14 after infection there is an additional loss of the 78,000, 30,000 and 26,000 molecular weight proteins. It is suggested that these changes may be associated with the temporal variation in distribution of the T0, T1 and T2 granules in the tegument syncytium.