Fasciola hepatica Cathepsin L Zymogens: Immuno-Proteomic Evidence for Highly Immunogenic Zymogen-Specific Conformational Epitopes to Support Diagnostics Development

Abstract

Fasciola hepatica, the common liver fluke and causative agent of zoonotic fasciolosis, impacts on food security with global economic losses of over $3.2 BN per annum through deterioration of animal health, productivity losses, and livestock death and is also re-emerging as a foodborne human disease. Cathepsin proteases present a major vaccine and diagnostic target of the F. hepatica excretory/secretory (ES) proteome, but utilization in diagnostics of the highly antigenic zymogen stage of these proteins is surprisingly yet to be fully exploited. Following an immuno-proteomic investigation of recombinant and native procathepsins ((r)FhpCL1), including mass spectrometric analyses

High relatedness of bioinformatic data and realistic experimental works on the potentials of Fasciola hepatica and F. gigantica cathepsin L1 as a diagnostic and vaccine antigen

“…In a more recent study, proteomic analyses revealed that the recombinant and native cathepsin L zymogens contain conserved, highly antigenic epitopes that are conformationally dependent. Additionally, the diagnostic capacities of cathepsin L zymogens were confirmed using serum and fecal panel of samples, suggesting an excellent efficacy as markers of infection and for monitoring treatment efficacy ( 12 ).…”

Immunol detection of cathepsin L from <italic>Fasciola hepatica</italic> infection in sheep by monoclonal antibody-based colloidal gold test strip assay

“…They are suitable for use in a variety of situations. Cysteine protease and glutathione S transferase [7] have been used to detect F. hepatica infection, including commercially available kits from TSZ bio and Ildana Biotech [8]. However, most methods focus on antibodies and research on antigen detection is limited.…”