Serum antibody responses to Wolbachia surface protein in patients with human lymphatic filariasis.

Wolbachia surface protein (WSP), which is the most abundantly expressed protein of Wolbachia from the human filarial parasite Brugia malayi, was chosen for the present study. B-cell epitope prediction of the WSP protein sequence indicates a high antigenicity, surface probability and hydrophilicity by DNA STAR software analysis. ProPred analysis suggests the presence of HLA class II binding regions in the WSP protein that contribute to T-cell responses and isotype reactivity.