Immunoproteomic analysis of fish ectoparasite, Argulus siamensis antigens.

AIM An immunoproteomic approach was followed to identify immunoreactive antigens of fish ectoparasite, Argulus siamensis with rohu (Labeo rohita) immune sera for screening of potential vaccine candidates. MATERIALS AND RESULTS The whole adult Argulus antigen was run in 2D electrophoresis with IEF in 7 cm IPG strips of pH 4-7 and SDS-PAGE with 12% acrylamide concentration. Two parallel gels were run; one was stained with silver stain, and the other was western blotted to nitrocellulose paper (NCP) and reacted with rohu anti-A. siamensis sera. Fourteen protein spots corresponding to the spots developed in NCP were picked from the silver-stained gel and subjected to mass spectrometry in MALDI-TOF/TOF. The MS/MS spectra were analyzed in MASCOT software with taxonomy 'other metazoa' and the proteins identified based on similarity with the proteins from heterologous species. The gene ontology analysis revealed a majority of proteins being involved in binding activity in 'molecular function' and belonging to metabolic processes in 'biologic process' categories. The possibility of these proteins as vaccine candidates against A. siamensis is discussed in the paper. CONCLUSION Three of the identified proteins namely, bromodomain-containing protein, anaphase-promoting complex subunit 5, and elongation factor-2 could possibly serve as vaccine candidates against argulosis in carps.