Antibody responses to the host-protective Taenia solium oncosphere protein TSOL18 in pigs are directed against conformational epitopes

TSOL18 is a recombinant protein that has been shown in repeated experimental trials to be capable of protecting pigs against challenge infection with the cestode parasite Taenia solium. Antibodies raised by the vaccine are capable of killing the parasite in an in vitroculture and it is believed that antibody and complement-mediated killing of invading parasites is the major protective immune mechanism induced by vaccination with TSOL18. Investigations were undertaken to characterize whether the principal antibody specificities raised by TSOL18 in pigs were against linear or conformational determinants. TSOL18 was expressed in two truncated forms representing either the amino terminal portion or the carboxy terminal portion, with the two truncations overlapping in sequence by 25 amino acids. The original protein (designated TSOL18N(−)) and the two truncations (TSOL18N(−)-1 and TSOL18N(−)-2) were used in inhibition ELISA. TSOL18N(−) was shown to be capable of completely inhibiting the binding of pig anti-TSOL18N(−) antibodies to TSOL18N(−) in ELISA. However, neither TSOL18N(−)-1 nor TSOL18N(−)-2, either alone or when combined together, was capable of inhibiting any detectable amount of reactivity of pig anti-TSOL18N(−) antibodies with TSOL18N(−). It is concluded that the dominant antibody specificities, and probably the host-protective specificities, of TSOL18 are conformational epitopes.