Proliferative responses of Brugia malayi TPX-1 and its epitopic peptide(29-43) in an endemic population of human lymphatic filariasis.

Although the antioxidant thioredoxin peroxidase (TPX) is a putative target exploited in vaccine studies of lymphatic filariasis, the high sequence homology with host peroxiredoxins remains a great concern. The emergence of immunomics offers a powerful tool for novel vaccine design. Further, due to the cellular hypo-response in filariasis, analysis of T epitope repertoire becomes imperative in disease control. Here, we report the cellular responses of filarial TPX-1 and the identification of T epitope (29-43) in the host non-homologous region. The strong proliferative responses induced by the peptide mimetic in mice splenocytes and human PBMC's prove the existence of T epitope recognized in endemic population.