Test for Antibody Production Elicited by Serine Protease from Schistosoma japonicum Eggs

Abstract

This study aims to extract and purify serine protease from Schistosoma japonicum eggs via lon-exchange chromatography and to test the ability of the extracted enzyme to elicit antibody production in sensitized rabbits. Eggs obtained {rom the liver of an infected rabbit were osterized, digested, centrifuged and homogenized using a sonicator. The resulting crude egg extract was subjected to GS-PAGE and fractions exhibiting gelatinolytic activity were subjected to Gel-Filtration and lonexchange chromatography for protein purification. GS-PAGE of lonexchange fractions yielded thick white bands indicating high gelatinolytic activity while Gel-Filtration fractions yielded only faint white bands. After lon-exchange, the egg extract was subjected to GS-PAGE to detect its proteolytic activity. This procedure detected the presence of serine protcase in the extract. A dose of 0.5 pL of the partially purified enzyme was then injected into the rabbits. Two weeks after sensitization, sera was taken from the test animals and was subjected to Western blotting. Results of the Western blot indicate that the enzyme dosage given is not enough to elicit antibody production.