Ann Clin Investigation | Volume 1, Issue 1 | Research Article | Open Access

Identification, Characterization, and Protective Effect of the Apical Membrane Antigen-1 (AMA-1) Homolog from the Argentina Strain of Babesia bigemina

Mahmoud AbouLaila1,2*, Mohamed Terkawi1, Soad Menshawy2, Naoaki Yokoyama1 and Ikuo Igarashi1

1Department of Disease Control, National Research Center for Protozoan Diseases, Obihiro University of Agriculture and Veterinary Medicine, Obihiro 080-8555, Hokkaido, Japan 2Department of Pathology and Parasitology, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Damanhour University, Damanhour 22511, Behera, Egypt

*Correspondance to: Mahmoud AbouLaila 

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Abstract

The Babesia bigemina Apical Membrane Antigen-1 gene (BbigAMA-1) was cloned from a cDNA of the Argentina strain by Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) and sequenced. The ORF of the gene was 1,788 bp and the predicted polypeptide was 595 amino acids long with a calculated molecular weight of 65.67 KDa. In addition to the N-terminal ectoplasmic region, BbigAMA-1 has a signal peptide of 30 amino acids, a transmembrane segment, and a cytoplasmic domain. Phylogenetic analysis of the amino acid sequence of BbigAMA-1 showed that B. bigemina was most closely related to B. bovis and B. gibsoni. Recombinant truncated protein (rtBbigAMA-1) was expressed in E. coli as a soluble GST-fusion protein with a molecular mass of 50.3 kDa. The serum raised in mice against rtBbigAMA-1 detected the native protein in B. bigemina, B. bovis, and B. microti lysates and reacted with B. bigemina, B. bovis, and B. microti merozoites in the IFAT. Mice vaccinated with rtBbigAMA-1 showed lower parasitemia against the challenge infection with B. microti than GST-vaccinated and non-vaccinated controls. These results added a new member of Babesia AMA-1 and demonstrated its protective effects in an experimental model of rodent babesiosis.

Keywords:

B. bigemina; Argentina strain; Apical membrane antigen-1; Expression; Characterization; In vitro inhibition; In vivo; Protective effect; B. microti

Citation:

AbouLaila M, Terkawi M, Menshawy S, Yokoyama N, Igarashi I. Identification, Characterization, and Protective Effect of the Apical Membrane Antigen-1 (AMA-1) Homolog from the Argentina Strain of Babesia bigemina. Ann Clin Investig. 2019; 1(1): 1001.

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