Bio-guided identification of proteins for the diagnosis of cysticercosis in swine

- Diagnostic of cysticercosis must be drawn to gate set for animals, to sustain control strategy.
- Bioguided identification of proteins from the liquid of the cyst was done using serums from positive and negative animals.
- Exchange chromatography and 2D-electrophoresis was used to identify protein candidates to develop a diagnostic test.
- Mass spectroscopy allowed to identify 18 new proteins and 9 were selected for further development

Neurocysticercosis (NCC) is one of the most prevalent parasitic infection of the brain and the most common cause of seizures in adults in tropical countries. Cysticercosis is caused by larvae of Taenia solium, a human tapeworm. Pig or humans are infected by ingestion of eggs in food contaminated by human feces. Diagnosis and treatment of pigs is a pillar of the control of the disease in a country. However current diagnostic tests are based on ELISA and/or Western blot using native antigens needing laboratory facilities not available in rural areas. Development of a pen side diagnostic test for swines, makes sense. Immunochromatographic test should be adapted for this purpose. To design it we started a bio-guided identification of new proteins in cysticercus fluid. Proteins were analyzed using ion exchange chromatography and 2D separation and were selected by Western blot analysis using sera from infected/non infected pigs. Spots from the Coomassie-stained gel corresponding to these proteins were then analyzed by mass spectroscopy and proteins were identified using a bank of Expressed Sequence Tags (EST) of T. solium. Eighteen new proteins of interest were identified and nine were selected for further development.