Antigens of Aspergillus fumigatus produced in vivo.

Immunoblots of extracts from kidneys of mice infected intravenously with Aspergillus fumigatus were probed with human sera from patients with aspergilloma. A limited number of antigens were detected with molecular masses of 31, 36, 56, 84, 88 and 200 kDa. These antigens can be clustered into two classes: (i) galactomannan and/or galactofuran-containing glycoproteins; and (ii) antigenic proteins (31, 36 and 88 kDa) exempt of the galactofuran epitope. Antigens belonging to this second class were also produced in vitro but were not the major proteins expressed by A. fumigatus in a glucose-asparagin medium.