Identification and initial characterization of five Cryptosporidium parvum sporozoite antigen genes.

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Cryptosporidium parvum, an Apicomplexan parasite of gastrointestinal epithelial cells, causes severe disease in persons with AIDS and is a common cause of self-limited diarrhea in children, animal handlers, and residents of developing countries. No approved therapy exists; in research studies, however, hyperimmune bovine colostrum raised to Cryptosporidium oocysts and sporozoites has eradicated disease or decreased parasite burden in some AIDS patients. Although the protective antigens recognized by bovine hyperimmune colostrum have not been defined, protective antigens of other Apicomplexan parasites frequently have been associated with two unique structures of invasive forms, the trilaminar pellicle and the apical complex. In order to identify immunogenic Cryptosporidium proteins that may be protective antigens for use as recombinant immunogens in passive and/or active immunotherapy, we screened two genomic DNA expression libraries with polyspecific anti-Cryptosporidium antibodies. We used an approach to cloning apical complex and pellicle protein antigens that succeeded despite the lack of large numbers of organisms that would be necessitated for conventional biochemical approaches requiring organelle or membrane purification. We report here the molecular cloning of five C. parvum genes and the characterization of the cognate sporozoite proteins having molecular masses of greater than 500, 68/95, 45, 23, and 15/35 kDa. The light microscopic immunofluorescence pattern of antibodies recognizing these protein antigens suggest that they are located in the pellicle or apical complex of Cryptosporidium sporozoites.

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