The trypomastigote small surface antigen (TSSA) is a mucin-like molecule from Trypanosoma cruzi, the etiological agent of Chagas disease, which displays amino acid polymorphisms in parasite isolates. TSSA expression is restricted to the surface of infective cell-derived trypomastigotes, where it functions as an adhesin and engages surface receptors on the host cell as a prerequisite for parasite internalization. Previous results have established TSSA-CL, the isoform encoded by the CL Brener clone, as an appealing candidate for use in serology-based diagnostics for Chagas disease. Here, we used a combination of peptide-and recombinant protein-based tools to map the antigenic structure of TSSA-CL at maximal resolution. Our results indicate the presence of different partially overlapping B-cell epitopes clustering in the central portion of TSSA-CL, which contains most of the polymorphisms found in parasite isolates. Based on these results, we assessed the serodiagnostic performance of a 21-amino-acidlong peptide that spans TSSA-CL major antigenic determinants, which was similar to the performance of the previously validated glutathione S-transferase (GST)-TSSA-CL fusion molecule. Furthermore, the tools developed for the antigenic characterization of the TSSA antigen were also used to explore other potential diagnostic applications of the anti-TSSA humoral response in Chagasic patients. Overall, our present results provide additional insights into the antigenic structure of TSSA-CL and support this molecule as an excellent target for molecular intervention in Chagas disease.
Chagas disease is a major health and economic problem in Latin America, for which no vaccine or appropriate drugs for largescale public health interventions are yet available (1). It is caused by the protozoan Trypanosoma cruzi, found throughout the American continents in a variety of wild and domestic mammalian reservoirs, and it is transmitted by the bite of infected bloodsucking triatomine bugs. It is estimated that 8 to 10 million people are currently infected with T. cruzi and that up to 120 million individuals living in areas that are endemic for the parasite are at risk of infection (1). Increasing travel and immigration have also brought the risk of T. cruzi infection into countries that are not endemic for the parasite (2). Several efforts have successfully been undertaken to control transmission in Latin America, with a concomitant decrease in the actual numbers of acute vector-borne infections (3). However, humans can also become infected with T. cruzi through the ingestion of tainted food and fluids, receipt of contaminated blood transfusion or organ transplantation, and from mother-to-child during pregnancy/delivery (4).The diagnosis of Chagas disease is challenging because it is often asymptomatic in its acute phase and evolves into a chronic stage in which the disease course takes different clinical forms (1). In addition, and due to a major decline in parasitemia during the chronic phase, the detection of T. cruzi in blood sample...