title: Partial protection induced by phage library-selected peptides mimicking epitopes of Schistosoma japonicum.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To obtain peptide mimicking epitopes of Schistosoma japonicum (S. japonicum) through screening of a phage peptide library and to test their potential for induction of protection.
  
  
  METHODS
  S. japonicum infected sera from Microtus fortis (IMFS) and normal sera from Microtus fortis (NMFS) were used respectively to screen a 12-mers random peptide library by testing the reactivity of anti-S. japonicum serum with the phagotopes. After three rounds of biopanning, the pooled phages were used to immunize mice, after which challenge infection was performed.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Of 12 randomly picked clones, 10 clones selected using IMFS and 7 clones selected using NMFS were shown to be antigenic. Significant reduction in adult worms (22.6%) and a high reduction (68.9%) in liver eggs were achieved following immunization with phages screened with IMFS. However, no protection was elicited by those selected with NMFS.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The results show that the phagotopes are both antigenic and immunogenic, suggesting a potential use of phage displayed peptide as novel vaccines against S. japonicum.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathogen Biology, Central South University Xiangya School of Medicine, Changsha 410078, China.
authors.forename: Li
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Ouyang
authors.forename: Xinyuan
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Yi
authors.forename: Xianfang
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Zeng
authors.forename: Jinchun
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Zhou
authors.forename: Qinlin
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Larry
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: McReynolds
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D003411:Arvicolinae / Q000469:parasitology; D000939:Epitopes; D015801:Helminth Proteins / Q000276:immunology*; D019151:Peptide Library; D012549:Schistosoma japonicum / Q000276:immunology*; D012554:Schistosomiasis japonica / Q000517:prevention & control; D014612:Vaccines / Q000276:immunology
chemical_list: D000939:Epitopes; D015801:Helminth Proteins; D019151:Peptide Library; D014612:Vaccines