Immunocytochemical localization of mouse alpha 2-macroglobulinlike antigenic determinants on Schistosoma mansoni adults.

Antiserum prepared in rhesus monkeys against purified mouse alpha 2-macroglobulin (alpha2M) was labeled with peroxidase and incubated with both living and formalin-fixed S. mansoni adults (perfused from mice or rhesus monkeys) in order to test for the presence of mouse alpha2M antigenic determinants on their surfaces. Following standard cytochemical processing with the appropriate controls, adult worms of both murine and primate origin were found to have mouse alpha2M-like determinants on their surfaces. Earlier observations by other methods on the presence, approximate distribution, and quantitative difference of alpha2M antigenic determinants on adult worms of mouse or rhesus origin were confirmed.