PROTEIN TARGETS IN THE IMMUNOLOGICAL RESPONSE OF OSTRICHES AGAINST LIBYOSTRONGYLUS SPP. (NEMATODA: TRICHOSTRONGYLIDAE)
Autor(es): Diana Azeredo Rangel, Cláudio Retamal, Olney Vieira da Motta, André Teixera Ferreira, Jonas Perales, Clóvis de Paula Santos, Renato Augusto DaMatta, Josiana Gomes de Andrade
PROTEIN TARGETS IN THE IMMUNOLOGICAL RESPONSE OF OSTRICHES AGAINST LIBYOSTRONGYLUS SPP. (NEMATODA: TRICHOSTRONGYLIDAE)
» Área de pesquisa: HELMINTOLOGIA
» Instituição: Universidade Estadual do Norte Fluminense Darcy Ribeiro
» Agência de fomento e patrocinadores: Faperj, CAPES
In Brazil the trade of ostrich-related products has increased in the last years. Products related to this African bird include: feathers, eggs, meat and the skin. However, ostrich’s breeding losses its productivity due infection of nematodes including the Libyostrongylus genus. This genus has three species, Libyostrongylus douglassii and L. dentatus, have been described in Brazil and the United States of America in mixed infection and L. magnus that was described once in ostriches from Ethiopia in Africa. This nematode is a blood sucker found in the proventriculus and ventriculus of the bird causing anemia, anorexia and death, especially in young ostriches. The goal of this work was to determine possible protein targets of L. dentatus and L. douglassii that triggered the immunological humoral response in infected ostriches. For that, proteins of infective larvae (L3) and of adults nematodes of both species were separated by polyacrylamide gel (1D and 2D), transferred to nitrocellulose membranes and the immunogenic protein spots were identified using serum of infected and uninfected ostriches that were revealed by an anti-ostrich secondary antibody labeled with peroxidase. Immunogenic spots were found in samples of L3 and adults of L. dentatus and L. douglassii. These spots were isolated and identified by mass spectrometry. These proteins have identity with Tropomyosin (Heligmosoides polygyrus), Heat Shock Protein 70 (Haemonchus contortus and Angiostrongylus vasorum), Phosphoenolpyruvate Carboxykinase (Caenorhabditis briggsae and H. contortus) and Aspartyl Protease Inhibitor Precursor (Trichostrongylus colubriformes). These results can contribute to future immunological diagnosis of libyostrongylosis, providing the basis to further studies of the immunological humoral response of ostriches against these nematodes.
