Analysis of expressed sequence tags from Trypanosoma cruzi amastigotes

A total of 880 expressed sequence tags (EST) originated from clones randomly selected from a Trypanosoma cruzi amastigote cDNA library have been analyzed. Of these, 40% (355 ESTs) have been identified by similarity to sequences in public databases and classified according to functional categorization of their putative products. About 11% of the mRNAs expressed in amastigotes are related to the translational machinery, and a large number of them (9% of the total number of clones in the library) encode ribosomal proteins. A comparative analysis with a previous study, where clones from the same library were selected using sera from patients with Chagas disease, revealed that ribosomal proteins also represent the largest class of antigen coding genes expressed in amastigotes (54% of all immunoselected clones). However, although more than thirty classes of ribosomal proteins were identified by EST analysis, the results of the immunoscreening indicated that only a particular subset of them contains major antigenic determinants recognized by antibodies from Chagas disease patients

RECOMBINANT TRYPANOSOMA-CRUZI ANTIGENS and CHAGAS-DISEASE DIAGNOSIS - ANALYSIS of A WORKSHOP

A workshop organized by the Ibero-American Project of Biotechnology evaluated the diagnostic potential of several cloned Trypanosoma cruzi recombinant antigens for Chagas' disease serodiagnosis. A set of recombinants, Antigen 2, Antigen 13, SAPA, H49, A13, JL5, JL7, JL8, JL9, and RA1 provided by three different South American laboratories were probed with a panel of 236 South American serum samples. Antigens JL7, H49, Antigen 2, and A13 scored as the best diagnostic recombinant reagents. the results suggested that the main advantage of using cloned peptides for chronic Chagas' disease diagnosis resided in their highly specific immunoreactive properties.LAB FLEURY, São Paulo, BRAZILESCOLA PAULISTA MED SCH, DISCIPLINA PARASITOL, BR-04023 São Paulo, BRAZILFDN CAMPOMAR, INST INVEST BIOQUIM, BUENOS AIRES, ARGENTINAFDN OSWALDO CRUZ, DEPT BIOL MOLEC, RIO de JANEIRO, BRAZILUNIV SIMON BOLIVAR, CARACAS, VENEZUELAESCOLA PAULISTA MED SCH, DISCIPLINA PARASITOL, BR-04023 São Paulo, BRAZILWeb of Scienc