The 96-kilodalton antigen as an integral membrane protein in pathogenic Entamoeba histolytica: potential differences in pathogenic and nonpathogenic isolates.

A surface antigen (EH-96) of Entamoeba histolytica was demonstrated to be a plasma membrane antigen by immunoprecipitation of metabolically 35S-labeled antigen from live trophozoites, Triton X-114 detergent extracts, and plasma membrane-enriched fractions prepared by concanavalin A membrane stabilization and differential centrifugation. In addition, the antigen was localized to the plasma membrane by electron microscopy with colloidal gold. Antigen from E. histolytica strains immunoprecipitated with specific immunoglobulin M (IgM) or IgG2b monoclonal antibody was identical by one-dimensional peptide mapping with N-chlorosuccinimide. Additionally, antigen from different axenically cultivated amebae was demonstrated to be identical by N-chlorosuccinimide peptide mapping, as were peptide maps of IgG and IgM monoclonal antibody-purified antigen. The 96-kilodalton (kDa) surface antigen was identified on four axenically cultivated pathogenic isolates and on three polyxenically cultivated pathogenic isolates (zymodeme II) of E. histolytica but was absent or present in lesser quantity on six nonpathogenic polyxenically cultivated isolates. The 96-kDa antigen was detected in liver abscess fluid from four patients with amebic abscesses by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and immunoprecipitation. Two-dimensional gel electrophoresis profiles of the 96-kDa antigen purified from abscess material or from polyxenically cultivated trophozoites demonstrated that the antigens were related to the 96-kDa antigen found in axenically cultivated organisms.