Ultrastructural localization of the circulating anodic antigen and the circulating cathodic antigen in the liver of mice infected with Schistosoma mansoni: a sequential study

Fluorescent quantum dot-based nanotool for targeted identification and evaluation of the schistosomiasis circulating cathodic antigen in tissue samples

Schistosomiasis represents a serious public health problem, a disease for which the circulating cathodic antigen (CCA) is a relevant biomarker. Quantum dots (QDs) are advantageous fluorescent nanoparticles that can be used as specific nanoprobes. In this study, a nanotool based on QDs and anti-CCA antibodies was developed, which, in association with fluorescence microscopy, was applied to trace and evaluate the CCA profile in schistosomiasis-infected tissue samples. Kidney and liver tissues from mice at different disease phases were used as models. QDs and the conjugates were characterized by absorption and emission spectroscopies. Microscopy analyses were used to map and assess CCA accumulation in infected tissue slices in respect to non-infected control samples. The fluorescent microplate assay (FMA) and Zeta potential (ζ) analyses indicated an effective conjugation, which was corroborated by the absence of labeling in non-infected tissue slices (which lack CCA) after incubation with the nanoprobe. Infected liver and kidney tissues exhibited notable staining by the QDs-anti-CCA conjugate. The CCA accumulation increased as follows: 30 < 60 = 120 days post-infection, with 30, 60, and 120 days corresponding to the pre-patent, acute, and beginning of chronic disease phases, respectively. Therefore, this innovative approach, combining imaging acquisition with the sensitivity and specificity of the QDs-anti-CCA conjugate, demonstrated efficiency in locating and comparatively evaluating CCA deposition in biological samples, thereby opening new possibilities for schistosomiasis research.

Circulating Anodic Antigen (CAA): A Highly Sensitive Diagnostic Biomarker to Detect Active Schistosoma Infections-Improvement and Use during SCORE

The Schistosomiasis Consortium for Operational Research and Evaluation (SCORE) was funded in 2008 to conduct research that would support country schistosomiasis control programs. As schistosomiasis prevalence decreases in many places and elimination is increasingly within reach, a sensitive and specific test to detect infection with Schistosoma mansoni and Schistosoma haematobium has become a pressing need. After obtaining broad input, SCORE supported Leiden University Medical Center (LUMC) to modify the serum-based antigen assay for use with urine, simplify the assay, and improve its sensitivity. The urine assay eventually contributed to several of the larger SCORE studies. For example, in Zanzibar, we demonstrated that urine filtration, the standard parasite egg detection diagnostic test for S. haematobium, greatly underestimated prevalence in low-prevalence settings. In Burundi and Rwanda, the circulating anodic antigen (CAA) assay provided critical information about the limitations of the stool-based Kato-Katz parasite egg-detection assay for S. mansoni in low-prevalence settings. Other SCORE-supported CAA work demonstrated that frozen, banked urine specimens yielded similar results to fresh ones; pooling of specimens may be a useful, cost-effective approach for surveillance in some settings; and the assay can be performed in local laboratories equipped with adequate centrifuge capacity. These improvements in the assay continue to be of use to researchers around the world. However, additional work will be needed if widespread dissemination of the CAA assay is to occur, for example, by building capacity in places besides LUMC and commercialization of the assay. Here, we review the evolution of the CAA assay format during the SCORE period with emphasis on urine-based applications.

Immunohistochemical and ultrastructural localization of Schistosoma mansoni soluble egg antigens processed by the infected host

The detection of egg-derived antigens in the serum and urine of Schistosoma mansoni-infected individuals and experimental animals would provide an alternative method to assess the tissue egg burden. The detected levels are, however, not only a function of the amounts of antigen produced, but also of the processing or clearance by the host. In the present study the immunolocalization pattern of antigens using 2 recently described monoclonal antibodies to repetitive carbohydrate epitopes of S. mansoni soluble egg antigen (114-5B1-A and 114-4D12-A) in various organs of the host was investigated. In the liver strong immunoreactivity could be detected around the entrapped eggs and in egg-shells, as well as in Kupffer cells accumulating both antigen and schistosomal pigment. In the spleen, immunohistochemistry revealed antigen in the plasma as well as in secondary lysosomes of macrophages. Strong labelling was found in the vesicles of the eosinophilic granulocytes: indirect evidence perhaps for the presence of antigen-antibody complexes. In conclusion, the secreted egg antigens were sequestered in the reticulo-endothelial macrophages of the liver and the spleen as already partly described for worm-derived antigens. The presence of large quantities of antigenic material in the spleen could suggest an important role of this organ in the clearance of antigen and might even provide an additional explanation for the hepatosplenomegaly mainly present in S. mansoni-infected children.

Schistosoma: analysis of monoclonal antibodies reactive with the circulating antigens CAA and CCA

Using spleen cells of mice infected or immunized respectively with cercariae or antigen preparations of Schistosoma mansoni, S. haematobium or S. japonicum monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) were produced against the schistosome gut-associated antigens CAA (circulating anodic antigen) and CCA (circulating cathodic antigen). Fusions nearly exclusively produced either anti-CAA (n = 25) or anti-CCA mAbs (n = 55) with a strong isotype restriction (IgM, IgG1 and IgG3) against both antigens, the majority of anti-CAA mAbs being IgG1 and the majority of anti-CCA mAbs being IgM. The mAbs, which on the basis of their selection were reactive with multiple carbohydrate epitopes of CAA or CCA, were applied in different immunological techniques including immunofluorescence, a dot immunobinding assay and immunoelectrophoresis to study the epitope repertoire. Anti-CAA mAbs were found to be reactive with 5 different epitopes, none of which occurred as multiple epitopes on eggs. Anti-CCA mAbs, on the other hand, recognized at least 10 different epitopes, while 44% of anti-CCA mAbs recognized epitopes common to the adult worm and the egg. Both CAA- and CCA-epitopes were found to be developmentally expressed at the level of the tegument in cercariae, schistosomula and 5-day-old lung worms, but in the adult worm were primarily found in the gut. Thus, the production of panels of mAbs has not only resulted in the selection of reagents optimally performing in diagnostic immunoassays, but also allowed a more detailed study of the epitope repertoire of these important schistosome antigens.

Schistosoma mansoni: analysis of monoclonal antibodies reactive with gut-associated antigens

The analysis of a series of monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) developed in our laboratory against gut-associated antigens of Schistosoma mansoni is described. It was found that mAbs that recognized epitopes of antigens in the gut and on the eggshell were mainly of the IgM isotype; these epitopes are likely to be carbohydrate in composition. Of a number of mAbs that were reactive with antigens important to the human humoral immune response, 75% appeared to be reactive with the circulating cathodic antigen.