title: Analysis of the antigenic properties of the L. infantum Hsp70: design of synthetic peptides for specific serodiagnosis of human leishmaniasis.
abstract: The 70-kDa heat shock protein (Hsp70) is a major target of the humoral immune response during Leishmania infections. In the present paper, it is shown that 84.6% of sera from mucocutaneous leishmaniasis (MCL) patients and 78.9% of sera from visceral leishmaniasis (VL) patients reacted with the L. infantum Hsp70. The mapping of the antigenic determinants indicated that this protein is highly rich in linear B-epitopes. As the complete protein cannot be used for specific serodiagnosis of VL because it is also recognized by the sera from Chagas' disease patients, a search for specific epitopes recognized by leishmaniasis patients was undertaken. A 50-mer synthetic peptide, located in the most divergent region of the protein, was found to be recognized by a high percentage of leishmaniasis sera and not recognized by chagasic sera. Such a tool would be particularly useful for serodiagnosis of leishmaniasis in geographical areas where mixed infections with Trypanosoma cruzi and Leishmania occurs.
authors.affiliation: Centro de Biología Molecular Severo-Ochoa (CSIC-UAM), Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Spain.
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Quijada
authors.forename: J M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Requena
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Soto
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Alonso
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D000913:Antibodies, Protozoan / Q000097:blood; D000953:Antigens, Protozoan / Q000737:chemistry / Q000276:immunology*; D001402:B-Lymphocytes / Q000276:immunology; D014355:Chagas Disease / Q000276:immunology; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; D018604:Epitope Mapping; D000939:Epitopes; D018840:HSP70 Heat-Shock Proteins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology*; D006801:Humans; D007892:Leishmania braziliensis / Q000276:immunology; D018314:Leishmania infantum / Q000276:immunology*; D016773:Leishmaniasis, Cutaneous / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000276:immunology; D007898:Leishmaniasis, Visceral / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000276:immunology; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D010455:Peptides / Q000138:chemical synthesis / Q000737:chemistry / Q000276:immunology*; D012698:Serologic Tests
chemical_list: D000913:Antibodies, Protozoan; D000953:Antigens, Protozoan; D000939:Epitopes; D018840:HSP70 Heat-Shock Proteins; D010455:Peptides