Demonstration of shared carbohydrate epitopes in intestinal proteins of some bovine gastrointestinal nematodes.

The presence of shared carbohydrate intestinal epitopes in bovine gastrointestinal nematodes was demonstrated. Proteins were extracted from the intestinal tissue of a laboratory strain of adult Haemonchus placei and used to produce monoclonal antibodies (mAb). Analysis of this detergent extract by sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis revealed 7-9 bands ranging from approximately 39 to 298 kDa. The mAbs reacted with periodate-sensitive epitopes and, in western blots, recognized high molecular weight protein bands (approximately 111-298 kDa). Immunohistochemical studies with the mAbs verified the intestinal location of the epitope(s) in the laboratory strain as well as in a recent field isolate of H. placei. Epitope(s) were conserved among species examined within the Trichostrongyloidea (Ostertagia ostertagi, Cooperia punctata, Haemonchus placei, and Haemonchus contortus), semiconserved among species within the Strongyloidea (present in Oesophagostomum radiatum, absent in Oesophagostomum venulosum), and absent in the only species examined in the Ancylostomatoidea (Bunostomum phlebotomum).