Analysis of genes expressed at the infective larval stage validates utility of Litomosoides sigmodontis as a murine model for filarial vaccine development

Abstract

We used an expressed sequence tag approach to analyze genes expressed by the infective larvae of the rodent filarial parasite Litomosoides sigmodontis. One hundred fifty two new genes were identified, including several proposed as vaccine candidates in studies with human filarial parasites. Our findings have important implications for the use of L. sigmodontis as a model for filarial infection.

FIG. 1

(A) Alignment of ALT homologues from filarial nematodes. The alignment was constructed using ClustalW and adjusted by eye. Residues identical in more than four of eight aligned sequences are shaded grey, while similar residues are not shaded but boxed. A five-of-eight majority rule consensus is given below the alignment. (B and C) Analysis of similarity of ALTs. Phylogenetic trees were constructed using only the conserved C-terminal portion (residues 72 to 153 of the alignment in panel A). (B) Minimum evolution, neighbor joining; (C) maximum parsimony (gaps included). Italicized numerals give bootstrap support (1,000 replicates). Trees were arbitrarily rooted by using O. volvulus ALT.