Schistosoma mansoni-infected mice produce antibodies that cross-react with plant, insect, and mammalian glycoproteins and recognize the truncated biantennaryN-glycan Man3GlcNAc2-R.

To reveal the role of cross-reactive carbohydrate determinants in the host immune response in helminth infections and allergenicity, we developed monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) that recognize glycan epitopes present on glycoconjugates from both helminths and plants. An IgM mAb (100-4G11-A) was selected from a panel of anti-glycan mAbs generated from Schistosoma-infected or immunized mice because it recognized both a plant glycoprotein horseradish peroxidase and phospholipase A2 from honeybee venom. On further characterization, it was shown that mAb 100-4G11-A recognizes the truncated biantennary N-glycan Man3GlcNAc2-R. Immunocytochemical analysis and immunoblotting with this mAb demonstrated that Man3GlcNAc2-R structures occur on many glycoproteins of schistosomes and other invertebrates. Remarkably, Man3GlcNAc2-R is also expressed on a restricted number of vertebrate glycoproteins. Our data indicate that this truncated N-glycan is immunogenic in mice during the course of infection. Nevertheless, no elevated antibody levels against this glycan epitope could be detected in sera of individuals infected with Schistosoma mansoni.