Development of vaccine and diagnosis targeted on Leishmania amastigotes specific protein

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The possibility of a protective response against Leishmania parasites has led to the concept that an effective vaccine should be aimed at amastigote stage-specific antigens. The aim of this study is to characterize proteins that are expressed specifically in the amastigote stage, and to find potential antigens as vaccine candidates among amastigote stage-specific proteins. In this study, 1) The important role of amastigotes was conformed that the pathogenesis in cutaneous leishmaniasis was mainly attributed to the infiltration of host cells, mainly macrophages, at the site of infection and the intramacrophage propagation of amastigotes. 2) A simple purification method for amastigotes from experimental mice was developed. 3) The differences between amastigotes and promastigotes in terms of infectivity in BALB/cA mice and protein expression levels were confirmed. 4) 2D SDS-PAGE analysis revealed that peroxidoxin is a protein, which is expressed in amastigotes. Peroxidoxin might play an important role as the last line of defense against oxidative stress. In addition, amastigote stage-specific monoclonal antibodies, which had strong reactivity with amastigotes, were produced for detailed studies on amastigotes. These studies will contribute to the development of imunological diagnosis or treatment or effective vaccine against leishmaniasis with the new concept that anlastigote stage-specific antigens should be aimed for controlmeasures.