Subunit composition and specificity of the major cyst fluid antigens of Echinococcus granulosus

Abstract

The subunit composition and specificity of the major Echinococcus granulosus cyst fluid antigens were determined by immunochemical analysis using murine monoclonal antibodies against Antigen 5 and Antigen B and human sera. Immune complexes cut out from immunoelectrophoresis gels and murine hybridomas were used as a source of specific anti-Antigen 5 and anti-Antigen B antibodies. Immunoprecipitation and Western blot analyses in sodium dodecyl sulphate-polyacrylamide gels using these resagents identified Antigen 5 to be a heterodimer composed of 24-kDa and 38-kDa subunits linked by disulphide bonding. Antigen B comprised a regularly spaced group of molecules with the smallest subunit estimated..