Structure and antigenicity of the major glycolipid from Taenia solium cysticerci

• Published in: Molecular and biochemical parasitology Vol. 119; no. 1; pp. 33 - 42
• Main Authors: López-Marı́n, Luz Marı́a, Montrozier, Henri, Lemassu, Anne, Garcı́a, Esperanza, Segura, Erika, Daffé, Mamadou
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Netherlands Elsevier B.V 2002; Elsevier
• Subjects: Animals; Antigenicity; Antigens, Helminth - chemistry; Antigens, Helminth - immunology; Bacteriology; Biochemistry, Molecular Biology; Biotechnology; Cestode; Chromatography, Thin Layer; Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; Fatty Acids - analysis; Fatty Acids - chemistry; Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry; Glycolipids - cerebrospinal fluid; Glycolipids - chemistry; Glycolipids - immunology; Glycolipids - isolation & purification; Glycosphingolipid; Humans; Immune Sera - immunology; Larva - chemistry; Larva - immunology; Life Sciences; Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy; Microbiology and Parasitology; Neurocysticercosis - cerebrospinal fluid; Neurocysticercosis - diagnosis; Neurocysticercosis - immunology; Neurocysticercosis - parasitology; Serodiagnosis; Spectrometry, Mass, Matrix-Assisted Laser Desorption-Ionization; Swine - parasitology; Taenia - chemistry; Taenia - immunology; Taenia solium; Cestode; GC/MS, gas chromatography coupled to mass spectrometry; OD, optical density; TLC, thin-layer-chromatography; NCC, neurocysticercosis; Taenia solium; ELISA, enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay; GSL-I, glycosphingolipid I from Taenia solium; Antigenicity; Glycosphingolipid; m/ z, mass to charge ratio; NMR, nuclear magnetic resonance; GC, gas chromatography; Serodiagnosis; MALDI-TOF/MS, matrix-assisted laser desorption-ionisation time of flight/mass spectrometry
• ISSN: 0166-6851; 1872-9428
• DOI: 10.1016/S0166-6851(01)00396-6

Lipids were extracted from cysticerci of the human tapeworm
Taenia solium isolated from various infected pigs and analysed by two-dimensional thin-layer chromatography. These consisted of both alkali-labile and alkali-stable glycolipids, and phosphorylated non-glycosylated lipids. Because abundant and immunogenic glycolipids of parasites have been implicated in host–parasite interactions, the major lipid, an alkali-stable glycolipid, was purified by chromatography and its structure and antigenicity were determined. The structure of the major glycolipid of
T. solium, GSL-I, was elucidated through a combination of chemical degradative methods, gas chromatography/mass spectrometry analyses of the degradative products, matrix-assisted-laser desorption/ionisation time of flight mass spectrometry and nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy. This analytical strategy led to the identification of a family of β-galactosylceramides composed mainly of phytosphinganine (2-hydroxylated sphinganine)
N-acylated by C16–C24 fatty acids, with the predominance of 2-hydroxylated homologues. Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay showed no correlation between the antibody titres directed against GSL-I in the human sera and the infective status; in contrast, a very high specific immunoreactivity and a sensitivity above 50% were observed when GSL-I was tested with cerebrospinal fluids from well characterised infected humans. Thus, although these results do not support the use of GSL-I alone as an antigen for the detection of neurocysticercosis, its use as part of an antigen cocktail for the diagnosis of the disease in cerebrospinal fluids merits further investigations.