The recognition of Schistosoma mansoni surface antigens by antibodies from patients infected with S. mansoni and S. haematobium

Polypeptide surface antigens of Schistosoma mansoni recognized by schistosomiasis patients have been identified and their strain and species specificity investigated. Antibodies from individuals infected with S. mansoni were used in immunoprecipitation assays of 125I-labelled schistosomulum surface antigens. All individuals surveyed from St. Lucia strongly precipitated antigens of approximately Mr 38,000 to 32,000 and 20,000. These antigens were shown by two-dimensional gel electrophoresis to be the same as those recognized by experimentally immunized mice. Although individuals showed a highly heterogeneous response against total polypeptide antigens synthesized in vitro by cell-free translation of adult S. mansoni mRNA, all individuals recognized the same surface antigens. Immunoprecipitation with sera from patients infected with S. mansoni in many different parts of Africa resulted in generally the same antigens being precipitated, although a very high molecular weight antigen(s), not strongly recognized by the St. Lucian sera was also precipitated by most of the African patient sera. One serum from Ghana precipitated the high molecular weight antigen but not the low molecular weight antigens, raising the possibility of the existence of S. mansoni strain(s) exhibiting some diversity in surface antigens. The surface of S. mansoni schistosomula was found to bind strongly antibodies from individuals infected with S. haematobium, demonstrating that most surface antigens are cross-reactive. Immunoprecipitation demonstrated, however, that of the polypeptide surface antigens only the very high molecular weight antigen was recognized by anti-S. haematobium antibodies and that the 38,000 to 32,000 and 20,000 Mr antigens were species-specific. Immunoprecipitation of the polypeptide antigens derived from purified adult surface membranes demonstrated recognition of the same 32,000, 25,000 and 20,000 Mr antigens recognized by chronically infected mice. Again these antigens were found to be species-specific.