The
filamentous fungus <i>Lomentospora prolificans</i> is an
emerging pathogen causing severe infections mainly among the
immunocompromised population. These diseases course with high mortality
rates due to great virulence of the fungus, its inherent resistance
to available antifungals, and absence of specific diagnostic tools.
Despite being widespread in humanized environments, <i>L. prolificans</i> rarely causes infections in immunocompetent individuals likely due
to their developed protective immune response. In this study, conidial
and hyphal immunomes against healthy human serum IgG were analyzed,
identifying immunodominant antigens and establishing their prevalence
among the immunocompetent population. Thirteen protein spots from
each morph were detected as reactive against at least 70% of serum
samples, and identified by liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry
(LC-MS/MS). Hence, the most seroprevalent antigens were WD40 repeat
2 protein, malate dehydrogenase, and DHN1, in conidia, and heat shock
protein (Hsp) 70, Hsp90, ATP synthase β subunit, and glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate
dehydrogenase, in hyphae. More interestingly, the presence of some
of these seroprevalent antigens was determined on the cell surface,
as Hsp70, enolase, or Hsp90. Thus, we have identified a diverse set
of antigenic proteins, both in the entire proteome and cell surface
subproteome, which may be used as targets to develop innovative therapeutic
or diagnostic tools
