Immunological and structural characterization of an epitope from the Trypanosoma cruzi KMP-11 protein

H. Díez, F. Guzmán, M. P. Alba, A. Cuéllar, M. C. Thomas, M. C. López, F. Rosas, V. Velasco, J. M. González, M. E. Patarroyo, C. J. Puerta

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

14 Scopus citations

Abstract

The K1 peptide is an HLA-A*0201-restricted cytotoxic epitope derived from the Trypanosoma cruzi KMP-11 protein, this being the etiological agent of Chagas' disease. This work describes the K1 peptide's secondary structure and its recognition by sera from chagasic patients. Circular dichroism and NMR spectroscopy analysis revealed that the K1 peptide adopts an α-helical conformation. Fifty-six percent of individuals had anti-K1 and 86% anti-KMP-11 antibodies by ELISA in the chronic Chagas' group and 28 and 68% in the indeterminate Chagas' group, respectively. By contrast, no reactivity was observed in sera from healthy individuals and tuberculosis patients. Antibody response subclass specificity to the K1 peptide was IgG1 and IgG3. Taken together these results support the idea that the K1 peptide acts as a B-cell-inducer epitope during Chagas' disease.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)1520-1526
Number of pages7
JournalPeptides
Volume28
Issue number8
DOIs
StatePublished - Aug 2007

Keywords

  • Chagas' disease
  • Humoral immune response
  • K1 peptide
  • KMP-11 protein
  • Trypanosoma cruzi
  • α-Helix

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