title: Taenia solium metacestode fasciclin-like protein is reactive with sera of chronic neurocysticercosis.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Neurocysticercosis (NC), an infection of the central nervous system with Taenia solium metacestodes (TsM), invokes a formidable neurological disease. A bundle of antigens is applicable for serodiagnosis of active cases, while they demonstrate fairly low reactivity against sera of chronic NC. Identification of sensitive biomarkers for chronic NC is critical for appropriate management of patients.
  
  
  METHODS
  Proteome analysis revealed several isoforms of 65- and 83-kDa TsM fasciclin-like proteins (TsMFas) to be highly reactive with sera of chronic NC. A cDNA encoding one of the 83-kDa TsMFas (TsMFas1) was isolated from a cDNA library. We expressed a recombinant protein (rTsMFas1) and evaluated its diagnostic potential employing sera from chronic NC (n = 80), tissue-invasive cestodiases (n = 169) and trematodiases (n = 80) and those of normal controls (n = 50).
  
  
  RESULTS
  Secretory TsMFas1 was composed of 766 amino acid polypeptide and harboured fasciclin and fasciclin-superfamily domains. The protein was constitutively expressed in metacestode and adult stages, with preferential locality in the scolex. Bacterially expressed rTsMFas1 exhibited 78.8% sensitivity (63/80 cases) and 93% specificity (278/299 samples) in diagnosing chronic NC. Some cross-reactivity was observed with sera of cystic echinococcosis (10/56, 17.8%) and sparganosis (4/50, 8%). Positive and negative predictive values were 75% and 95.5%, respectively.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  TsM fasciclin-like protein may be useful for differential diagnosis of chronic NC in clinical settings, especially where both NC and other infectious cerebral granulomatoses are prevalent.
authors.affiliation: Department of Molecular Parasitology, Samsung Biomedical Research Institute, Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine and Center for Molecular Medicine, Suwon, Korea.|Department of Microbiology, Graduate School of Medicine, Gachon University, Incheon, Korea.
authors.forename: Young-An
authors.initials: YA
authors.lastname: Bae
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine, Kangbuk Samsung Hospital, Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.
authors.forename: Joon-Sup
authors.initials: JS
authors.lastname: Yeom
authors.affiliation: Qinghai Province Institute for Endemic Diseases Prevention and Control, Xining, China.
authors.forename: Hu
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Department of Molecular Parasitology, Samsung Biomedical Research Institute, Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine and Center for Molecular Medicine, Suwon, Korea.
authors.forename: Seon-Hee
authors.initials: SH
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.affiliation: Department of Molecular Parasitology, Samsung Biomedical Research Institute, Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine and Center for Molecular Medicine, Suwon, Korea.
authors.forename: Chun-Seob
authors.initials: CS
authors.lastname: Ahn
authors.affiliation: Department of Molecular Parasitology, Samsung Biomedical Research Institute, Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine and Center for Molecular Medicine, Suwon, Korea.
authors.forename: Jin-Taek
authors.initials: JT
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.affiliation: Department of Parasitology, Ewha Womans University School of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.
authors.forename: Hyun-Jong
authors.initials: HJ
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.affiliation: Department of Molecular Parasitology, Samsung Biomedical Research Institute, Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine and Center for Molecular Medicine, Suwon, Korea.
authors.forename: Yoon
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Kong
keywords: Taenia solium metacestode; chronic stage; estadío crónico inactivo; fasciclin-like protein; metacéstodo Taenia solium; métacestode de Taenia solium; neurocisticercosis; neurocysticercose; neurocysticercosis; proteína similar a la fasciclina; protéines semblable à la fascicline; serodiagnosis; serodiagnóstico; stade chronique inactif; sérodiagnostic