List of functional categories, both biological and molecular, identified with Argot2 for hypothetical cyst proteins.

<p>List of functional categories, both biological and molecular, identified with Argot2 for hypothetical cyst proteins.</p

Jacob protein expression in CLS and cyst.

<p>A)15 μg of sample protein were resolved on 12% acrylamide gel (Coomassie blue-stained) and transferred to a PVDF membrane. Anti-Jacob 1:1000 and a goat HRP-conjugated anti-rabbit 1:50,000 antibodies were used. Unique bands of around 30-kDa and 62-kDa were observed in CLS and cyst samples, respectively, but not in a trophozoites sample. T: Trophozoite, CLS: Cyst-like structure, C: Cyst. B) Immunofluorescence on fixed and permeabilized cyst and CLS using anti-Jacob 1:200 and a goat FITC-conjugated anti-rabbit 1:200 antibodies.</p

Validation of proteins identified by RT-PCR.

<p>Five proteins were selected for RT-PCR validation. Left above: malic enzyme. Left middle: F1-6BA, fructose 1,6-bisphosphate aldolase. Left below: GAPDH: glyceraldehyde 3-phosphate dehydrogenase. Right above: Gal/GalNAc lectin LC3 fragment. Right middle: peroxiredoxin. Right below: ARF, ADP-ribosylation factor, used as loading control. T: trophozoite, CLS: cyst-like structure.</p

Proteins identified in cysts in both studies.

<p>Proteins identified in cysts in both studies.</p

Comparison of proteomic data obtained from <i>E</i>. <i>histolytica</i> trophozoites, cysts and CLS.

<p>A) Proteome comparison using the BioVenn software. B) Percentage of annotated and hypothetical proteins identified in each sample. C) Global protein association between samples, labeled as total, annotated, or hypothetical proteins as determined by correlation test. R-values closer to 1 indicate a closer association. T: Trophozoite; CLS: cyst-like structure; C: cyst.</p

RT-PCR of transcripts encoding for cyst wall proteins in trophozoites and CLS.

<p>RNA was isolated from trophozoites and CLS samples and used to perform a RT-PCR for a number of cyst wall specific proteins: Jessie 1 (J1), Jessie 2 (J2), Jessie 3 (J3), Jacob, and chitin synthase (CS). RT-PCR of the ADP-ribosylation factor (ARF) was used as an internal control. Odd numbers: trophozoites samples; even numbers: CLS samples.</p

CLS induction and stool samples positive for <i>E</i>. <i>histolytica</i>.

<p>A) Samples used in this study. From left to right: <i>E</i>. <i>histolytica</i> trophozoites, CLS (induced from trophozoites after a 4 h treatment with H₂O₂ 4 mM), CLS stained with calcofluor white and a cysts partially purified from a fecal sample and stained with Lugol. B) Representative agarose gel of the PCR products differentiating <i>E</i>. <i>histolytica</i> from <i>E</i>. <i>dispar</i>. Samples 1 and 4 were positive to <i>E</i>. <i>dispar</i>, sample 3 to <i>E</i>. <i>histolytica</i> and sample 2 negative. <i>E</i>. <i>histolytica</i> and <i>E</i>. <i>dispar</i> trophozoite DNA were used as positive controls (Eh+ and Ed+).</p

Proteins identified as unique with highest peptide-hit score in trophozoites, CLS, and cysts.

<p>Proteins identified as unique with highest peptide-hit score in trophozoites, CLS, and cysts.</p

Proteins shared among trophozoites, cysts, and CLS as identified by LC-MS/MS.

<p>Proteins shared among trophozoites, cysts, and CLS as identified by LC-MS/MS.</p

Peptide mixtures as potential diagnostic agents for <i>Taenia solium</i> cysticercosis.

<p>Several peptide mixtures were used: A) The best four individual peptides (using 500 ng or 1 μg to coat each microtiter plate well). The rest of the peptides combinations were used at 500 ng. B) Mixture of all 14 peptides synthesized in this study, C) Mixture of the peptides derived of skeletal muscle (SM) abundant proteins, D) Mixture of one peptide of a central nervous system (CNS) abundant protein and one of a constitutive protein and E) Mixture of peptides from SM and CNS cysts. The normalized optical density was calculated by dividing each individual O.D. by the cut-off value (mean value of non cysticercotic pigs plus two standard deviations). P-values are shown at the top of each figure. F) Heat map showing the individual response to antigenic peptide mixtures. The normalized optical density was transformed using Log₂. White represents values near to the cut-off point, red represents values over the cut-off point (positive samples) and blue represents values below the cut-off point (negative samples).</p