REPETITIVE PROTEINS FROM THE FLAGELLAR CYTOSKELETON OF AFRICAN TRYPANOSOMES ARE DIAGNOSTICALLY USEFUL ANTIGENS

Trypanosome infection of mammalian hosts leads, within days, to a stro ng early response against a small, distinct number of parasite protein s. One of these proteins is the variable surface glycoprotein (VSG). M ost of the others are apparently non-variable, intracellular trypanoso me proteins. Two of these antigens I-2 and I-17 are now characterized at the molecular level. Both exhibit a highly repetitive amino acid se quence organization, but they show no sequence similarity either to ea ch other or to any other proteins known to date. Preliminary serologic al analyses indicate that both allow the early, sensitive and specific detection of infections with different species of trypanosomatids, ma king them interesting candidates for the development of diagnostic too ls for trypanosomiasis detection.