Production and characterization of a monoclonal antibody against nucleoside triphosphate hydrolase from Toxoplasma gondii

摘要

Toxoplasma gondii is an obligate intracellular protozoan that can invade and replicate in all nucleated mammalian cells. The T. gondii tachyzoite has a unique enzyme, nucleoside triphosphate hydrolase (NTPase). This enzyme has apyrase activity toward all nucleoside and deoxy-nucleoside triphosphates, sequentially degrading these substrates to the monophosphate form [2]. NTPase is contained at a 3-4 percent level in the tachyzoite, suggesting a central role of the enzyme in parasite survival and replication, and it has also been detected as a circulating antigen during acute infection [1, 2]. NTPase in T. gondii is localized in dense granules and is associated with the parasitophorous vacuole [3]. Recently, we made a monoclonal antibody against NTPase of T. gondii RH and examined its characteristics in comparison with those of another anti-NTPase monoclonal antibody against T. gondii RH previously reported [1].