AUTHOR=Montalvão Fabricio , Nascimento Danielle Oliveira , Nunes Marise P. , Koeller Carolina M. , Morrot Alexandre , Lery Leticia Miranda S. , Bisch Paulo M. , Teixeira Santuza M. R. , Vasconcellos Rita , Freire-de-Lima Leonardo , Lopes Marcela F. , Heise Norton , DosReis George A. , Freire-de-Lima Célio Geraldo 

TITLE=Antibody Repertoires Identify β-Tubulin as a Host Protective Parasite Antigen in Mice Infected With Trypanosoma cruzi

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Immunology

VOLUME=9

YEAR=2018

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/immunology/articles/10.3389/fimmu.2018.00671

DOI=10.3389/fimmu.2018.00671

ISSN=1664-3224

ABSTRACT=<p>Few studies investigate the major protein antigens targeted by the antibody diversity of infected mice with <italic>Trypanosoma cruzi</italic>. To detect global IgG antibody specificities, sera from infected mice were immunoblotted against whole <italic>T. cruzi</italic> extracts. By proteomic analysis, we were able to identify the most immunogenic <italic>T. cruzi</italic> proteins. We identified three major antigens as pyruvate phosphate dikinase, Hsp-85, and β-tubulin. The major protein band recognized by host IgG was <italic>T. cruzi</italic> β-tubulin. The <italic>T. cruzi</italic> β-tubulin gene was cloned, expressed in <italic>E. coli</italic>, and recombinant <italic>T. cruzi</italic> β-tubulin was obtained. Infection increased IgG reactivity against recombinant <italic>T. cruzi</italic> β-tubulin. A single immunization of mice with recombinant <italic>T. cruzi</italic> β-tubulin increased specific IgG reactivity and induced protection against <italic>T. cruzi</italic> infection. These results indicate that repertoire analysis is a valid approach to identify antigens for vaccines against Chagas disease.</p>