M. Soto et al., MAPPING OF THE LINEAR ANTIGENIC DETERMINANTS FROM THE LEISHMANIA-INFANTUM HISTONE H2A RECOGNIZED BY SERA FROM DOGS WITH LEISHMANIASIS, Immunology letters, 48(3), 1995, pp. 209-214
Antibodies reacting against the H2A histone protein were frequently ob
served in the sera from dogs naturally infected with the protozoan par
asite Leishmania infantum. Using synthetic peptides covering the compl
ete sequence of the protein we have identified the amino terminal regi
on, comprising from amino acids 1 to 20, and the carboxyl terminal reg
ion, comprising from amino acids 106 to 132, as conforming the antigen
ic determinants of the protein. Those regions, exposed in the nucleoso
me surface, are highly divergent in sequence relative to the mammalian
H2A histones. The anti-H2A histone antibodies present in the sera of
these dogs specifically recognize the L, infantum H2A histone and they
do not react with mammalian histones. The present data indicate that,
in spite of the evolutionary conservation of the H2A histone protein
among eukaryotic organisms, the humoral response against this protein
during natural infection is specifically triggered by the parasite pro
tein antigenic determinants.