M. Soto et al., DURING ACTIVE VISCEROCUTANEOUS LEISHMANIASIS THE ANTI-P2 HUMORAL RESPONSE IS SPECIFICALLY TRIGGERED BY THE PARASITE P-PROTEINS, Clinical and experimental immunology, 100(2), 1995, pp. 246-252
In this work we show that in the sera from dogs naturally infected wit
h the protozoan parasite Leishmania infantum there are antibodies that
react specifically against the parasite acidic ribosomal proteins LiP
2a and LiP2b, and that each one of the Leishmania P proteins elicits a
specific humoral immune response. Using synthetic peptides, the antig
enic epitope of these proteins has been mapped in a single region loca
ted adjacent to the C-terminal domain highly conserved among the eukar
yotic P proteins. The anti-P antibodies elicited during the Leishmania
infection do not recognize the conserved C-terminal domain of the par
asite P proteins, in contrast with the findings reported in Chagas' di
sease or systemic lupus erythematosus. The antigenic epitopes of the L
iP2a and LiP2b are almost identical in amino acid sequence. No reactiv
ity against Trypanosoma cruzi and human P proteins was found in sera f
rom L. infantum-infected dogs.