title: The effect of monoclonal antibodies on Schistosoma mansoni cercarial penetration of mouse skin.
abstract: Monoclonal antibodies (MA) were prepared by the fusion of spleen cells from C57BL/6J mice infected with Schistosoma mansoni with non-secreting SP2 myeloma cells. Clones of fused cells secreting MA reactive with the egg and cercarial antigens (as determined by the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay), as well as with schistosomules (as determined by immunofluorescence), were injected into pristane "primed" mice to produce ascitic fluid. Cercariae were treated with MA by incubating them in individual MA or a pool of 3 or 4 MA (0.25 ml each) in form of ascitic fluid diluted in 10 ml of snail water for 60-90 minutes prior to snail exposure. Groups of 7-9 mice were exposed to MA-treated cercariae either via the tail or intraperitoneally (i.p.). Control mice were exposed to non-treated cercariae or those which were treated with nonsense ascitic fluid. Maturing adult worms were recovered by the perfusion technique and counted. The results of two experiments indicate that cercariae treated with a pool of 3 or 4 MA fail to penetrate the skin of mice and thus were not able to develop into adult worms. Treatment of cercariae with 1 MA resulted in a very low worm recovery (4.3% of the exposure dose). The rate of worm recovery from mice injected i.p. with pool-treated cercariae was similar to that recovered from control mice. In contrast to control groups, mice injected with MA-treated cercariae had a higher percentage of immature worms which may indicate a possible form of stunting phenomenon associated with MA-treatment.
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000911:Antibodies, Monoclonal / Q000276:immunology*; D051379:Mice; D008807:Mice, Inbred BALB C; D008810:Mice, Inbred C57BL; D012550:Schistosoma mansoni / Q000276:immunology* / Q000472:pathogenicity; D012867:Skin / Q000469:parasitology*
chemical_list: D000911:Antibodies, Monoclonal