The identification and characterization of epitopes in the 30–34 kDa Trypanosoma cruzi proteins recognized by antibodies in the serum samples of chagasic patients

Trypanosoma cruzi proteins with molecular weight between 30 and 34 kDa have shown high reactivity in western blot assays with serum samples from chagasic individuals. However, in-depth analysis of the constituents of these protein fractions has not been performed. This is the first report of an immunoaffinity proteomic approach to identify the immunodominant 30–34 kDa proteins of T. cruzi that could eventually be used for the diagnosis of Chagas disease. We used two different sample preparation protocols for protein digestion coupled to mass spectrometry to identify proteins in the protein fraction. The immunodominant proteins and their respective epitopes were then identified by co-immunoprecipitation and excision-epitope mapping/mass spectrometry, using human sera followed by the prediction and three-dimensional structural modeling of reactive epitopes. The use of different sample preparation methods allowed the identification of a relatively high number of proteins, some of which were only identified after one or multiple sample preparation and digestion protocols. Seven immunodominant proteins were identified by co-immunoprecipitation with purified IgGs from chagasic serum samples. Moreover, six reactive peptide epitopes were detected in four of these proteins by excision-epitope mapping/mass spectrometry. Three-dimensional structural models were obtained for the immunoreactive peptides, which correlated well with the linear B-cell epitope prediction tools.

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► Trypanosma cruzi proteins of 30–34 kDa are highly reactive in western blot assays.
► Two digestion protocols to identify 57 proteins in this fraction were used.
► The Co-IP/MS approach identified seven immunodominant proteins and six epitopes.
► Three-dimensional structural modeling of epitopes indicated surface localization.
► Future studies can allow their potential use for the diagnostic of Chagas disease.