1. Identification of biomarkers associated with cysticercosis, taking into account the presence of viable or dead cysticerci


2. Development of a simple and cheap bioassay for the detection of porcine and human cysticercosis, based on selected biomarkers

For identification of biomarker the ProteinChip Biomarker System from Ciphergen Biosystems (Fremont, CA, USA) will be used, which is based on an innovative and powerful technology, "Surface enhanced laser-desorption ionisation time of flight mass spectrometry" (SELDI-TOF MS). This system can generate protein profiles from complex biological materials such as serum. In a first step proteins from serum are bound on a chip based on the chemical and physical properties of the surface. The second step consists of the TOF-MS on this chip, which generates the protein profiles. This research will be focused on the pig, which is the animal model of choice as it is the natural host of Taenia solium.

The ITM Department of Animal Health is involved in several research projects on T. solium cysticercosis in endemic countries. This has allowed building up a serum bank of well-documented samples from pigs. The use of this technology in helminthology is innovative. The "multimarker"- concept allows to focus the diagnosis on the detection of independent, but complementary biomarkers that are associated with different aspects of the patho-physiology of this parasitic disease. Based on the expertise of our laboratory, we will in the first place focus on the development of ELISA format for the detection of circulating antigen. Relevant biomarkers that show high predictive value will be purified and used for the production of recombinant camel derived antibodies.

Note: the budget to ITM is the current year budget

In the experimental sample set 30 discriminating biomarkers (p < 0.05) were found, 13 specific for the viable phenotype, 9 specific for the degenerated phenotype and 8 specific for the infected phenotype (either viable or degenerated cysts). Only 3 of these biomarkers were also significant in the field samples; however, the peak profiles were not consistent among the two sample sets. Five biomarkers discovered in the sera from experimentally infected pigs were identified as clusterin, lecithin-cholesterol acyltransferase, vitronectin, haptoglobin and apolipoprotein A-I.