Bge snail cell-line antigens: ineffectiveness as antischistosomal vaccine in mice.

Mice and rabbits were immunized with antigens derived from Bge cells, Biomphalaria glabrata hemolymph, or Schistosoma mansoni. Antisera from mice given molluscan antigens did not form immunoprecipitates with soluble antigen from adult worms, but their binding to surfaces of sporocysts, cercariae, and schistosomules suggests the presence of cross-reacting determinants. In vitro, cell-mediated immune responses to Bge antigens were not demonstrable in infected nor in immunized mice. Mice immunized with Bge cell-line antigens and challenged with S. mansoni cercariae showed no reduction in worm burden when compared with control mice.