Development of antibodies and their fragments against Cryptosporidium parvum antigens.

摘要

Availability of antibodies against Cryptosporidium parvum, a waterborne pathogen causing cryptosporidiosis in humans and animals, will facilitate detection of this pathogen in contaminated water. This thesis describes the production and selection of polyclonal as well as monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) against an oocyst protein, CP15, and a virus of C. parvum (CPV). Using hybridoma technology, one anti-recombinant CP15 (rCP15) and two anti-recombinant CPV (rCPV) mAbs were isolated that bound to both the recombinant and native C. parvum oocyst and viral proteins, respectively. Separately, single-domain antibody fragments (VHHs) were also selected against rCpv by creating and panning a phage-display library from llama ( Lama glama). One VHH clone specifically bound to both rCpv and native CPV. These results demonstrate for the first time that using CP15-specific mAbs and CPV-specific VHHs may be used for the detection of oocysts. Furthermore, the CP15-specific mAb may have potential for use in immunotherapy and diagnostics.