A novel 62-kilodalton egg antigen from Schistosoma mansoni induces a potent CD4(+) T helper cell response in the C57BL/6 mouse.

In infection with Schistosoma mansoni, hepatic granuloma formation is mediated by CD4(+) T helper (Th) cells sensitized to schistosomal egg antigens. There is considerable variation among infected individuals with respect to both severity of disease and the T-cell response to egg antigens. In the BL/6 mouse, the egg granulomas are relatively small and the relevant sensitizing egg antigens are largely unknown. We investigated the CD4(+) Th cell response of infected BL/6 mice to egg antigens fractionated by sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis and found a prominent lymphoproliferative response to be directed against a 62-kDa component. With the aid of a specific T-cell hybridoma, 4E6, the 62-kDa antigen was isolated; following partial digestion with endoproteinase Glu-C, an internal amino acid sequence was found to be identical with one present in the enzyme phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase (PEPCK) of the organisms Caenorhabditis elegans and Treponema pallidum and to differ by one residue from PEPCK of various other species. In CD4(+) Th cells from 7.5- 8.5-week-infected BL/6 mice, the purified 62-kDa molecule elicited a potent proliferative response which, based on cytokine analysis, was of a mixed Th-1 and Th-2 type. Our results reveal a novel egg antigen of particular prominence in the BL/6 mouse and suggest that the immune response in schistosomiasis is a product of sensitization to egg antigens that may vary considerably in immunogenicity from strain to strain.