title: Comparative analysis of two different subunits of antigen B from Echinococcus granulosus: gene sequences, expression in Escherichia coli and serological evaluation.
abstract: Two different Echinococcus granulosus antigen B subunits (AgB8/1 and AgB8/2) were characterized and the structure of the genes encoding these two proteins were compared. DNA sequences were expressed in Escherichia coli and the antigens' diagnostic value was then assessed. The genomic sequence of AgB8/1 has a 92 bp intron in the position corresponding to amino acid 16; the AgB8/2 genomic sequence presents a 68 bp intron in the position corresponding to amino acid 20. Both introns are located between the putative N-terminal hydrophobic sequence and the secreted peptide. A comparison between the AgB8/1 and AgB8/2 nucleotide sequences showed a 53.5% identity among exons and a 50% identity between introns. According to the molecular diversity analysis, the elapsed time since both genes shared a common ancestor would be around 4.2x10(7) years. When the native AgB and the two recombinant antigens (rAgB8/1 and rAgB8/2) were tested in an anti-IgG ELISA, the sensitivity of the native antigen B was 77.41% and its specificity was 81.9%, while rAgB8/1 showed 54.84% of sensitivity and 80.17% of specificity and rAg138/2 had an 83.87% sensitivity and a 98.28% specificity. Statistical analysis confirms that rAgB8/2 has a better performance than rAgB8/1 and native AgB in ELISA.
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Microbiologia, Instituto de Ciências Básicas da Saúde, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, RS, Porto Alegre, Brazil.
authors.forename: M B
authors.initials: MB
authors.lastname: Rott
authors.forename: V
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Fernández
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Farias
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Ceni
authors.forename: H B
authors.initials: HB
authors.lastname: Ferreira
authors.forename: K L
authors.initials: KL
authors.lastname: Haag
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Zaha
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D000909:Antibodies, Helminth / Q000097:blood; D000947:Antigens, Helminth / Q000096:biosynthesis / Q000235:genetics*; D001483:Base Sequence; D003001:Cloning, Molecular; D004446:Echinococcus / Q000235:genetics* / Q000276:immunology; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; D004926:Escherichia coli / Q000235:genetics; D017238:Genes, Helminth; D005822:Genetic Vectors; D015801:Helminth Proteins / Q000096:biosynthesis / Q000235:genetics*; D006373:Helminthiasis / Q000097:blood; D006801:Humans; D007438:Introns; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D011994:Recombinant Proteins / Q000096:biosynthesis; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D016415:Sequence Alignment
chemical_list: D000909:Antibodies, Helminth; D000947:Antigens, Helminth; D015801:Helminth Proteins; D011994:Recombinant Proteins