CHARACTERIZATION OF MONOCLONAL ANTIBODIES THAT RECOGNIZE THE APICAL COMPLEXOF COCCIDIA

Authors: SASAI, KAZUMI - OSAKA PREF. UNIV.; Lillehoj, Hyun; HEMPHILL, ANDREW - UNIV OF BERN; MATSUDA, HARUO - HIROSHIMA UNIV; FUKATA, TUNEO - HIROSHIMA UNIV; BABA, EIICHIRO - HIROSHIMA UNIV; MIYAMOTO, TADASHI - HIROSHIMA UNIV; ARAKAWA, AKIRA - OSAKA PREF. UNIV

Submitted to: International Symposium on Challenges of Lower Vertebrates Immune System
Publication Type: Proceedings
Publication Acceptance Date: 1/30/1998
Publication Date: N/A
Citation: N/A

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: The widespread occurrence of avian coccidiosis has ranked it as the major parasitic disease of poultry. After initial infection with Eimeria, chickens acquire immunity to reinfection and much effort is currently underway to identify potential vaccine antigens capable of inducing protective host immune response. Cell-mediated immunity is the main line of defense against coccidiosis. Recent studies have identified CD8 positive T cells as the major effector cells. In order to identify potential receptor molecules of Eimeria which are involved in host cell invasion, we have developed several chicken monoclonal antibodies which were capable of blocking sporozoite invasion of CD8 cells. One of these anti-coccidial monoclonal antibodies, 6D12, identified the conoid antigen and significantly inhibited the sporozoite invasion of CD8 positive T cells in vitro. In this report, we present the data which indicate that the epitope which is recognized by the 6D12 monoclonal antibody is conserved among the apicomplexan parasites including Eimeria, Toxoplasma and Neospora.