Partial purification and characterization of Gigantocotyle explanatum somatic antigens.

Soluble extracts of Gigantocotyle explanatum, isolated from the liver of buffalo Bubalus bubalis were fractionated on Sephadex G-200 columns. Nine major fractions referred to as Fl, F2, F3, F4, F5, F6, F7, F8 and F9 were separated. Each fraction was tested by ELISA for antigenicity using sera from G. explanatum-infected field buffaloes. Fractions Fl and F2 were highly antigenic, F3, F4, F6 and F7 were moderately antigenic and F5, F8 and F9 were poorly antigenic. Analyses by SDS-PAGE revealed that each fraction comprised several polypeptide(s) in the molecular weight range of 205kDa. Results of Western blotting indicated that not all polypeptides which appeared in the SDS-PAGE were antigenic. The antigenic molecules of each fraction were mostly in the low molecular weight range of 94 kDa with the polypeptides in the range of > 14, 14, 18, 21-25 and 34-36 kDa.