THE RECOMBINANT ANTIGEN ASPND1R FROM ASPERGILLUS-NIDULANS IS SPECIFICALLY RECOGNIZED BY SERA FROM PATIENTS WITH ASPERGILLOMA

A 996 bp Aspergillus nidulans cDNA encoding the ASPND1 immunodominant antigen was cloned and expressed in Escherichia coli as a fusion prote in with the enzyme glutathione S-transferase (GST) from Schistosoma ja ponicum. The GST-ASPND1 fusion protein was purified from isolated bact erial inclusion bodies by preparative SDS-PAGE. After cleavage with th rombin, the ASPND1 recombinant antigen (ASPND1r) and the GST protein w ere separated by SDS-PAGE and immunoblotted with a number of different human sera. The sera from 22 (88%) of 25 patients with an aspergillom a recognized the ASPND1r recombinant antigen on immunoblots. Forty-nin e normal human sera and 14 sera from patients with other infections we re unreactive. The ASPND1r expressed in E. coli could therefore be use d. in combination with previously reported recombinant antigens, as a standardized antigen for serological and clinical diagnosis of Aspergi llus-associated diseases.