Deep serological profiling of the Trypanosoma cruzi TSSA antigen reveals different epitopes and modes of recognition by Chagas disease patients.

Background: Trypanosoma cruzi, the agent of Chagas disease, displays a highly structured population, with multiple strains that can be grouped into 6-7 evolutionary lineages showing variable eco-epidemiological traits and likely also distinct disease-associated features. Previous works have shown that antibody responses to 'isoforms' of the polymorphic parasite antigen TSSA enable robust and sensitive identification of the infecting strain with near lineage-level resolution. To optimize the serotyping performance of this molecule, we herein used a combination of immunosignaturing approaches based on peptide microarrays and serum samples from Chagas disease patients to establish a deep linear B-cell epitope profiling of TSSA.

Serological Approaches for Trypanosoma cruzi Strain Typing.

Trypanosoma cruzi, the protozoan agent of Chagas' disease, displays a complex population structure made up of multiple strains showing a diverse ecoepidemiological distribution. Parasite genetic variability may be associated with disease outcome, hence stressing the need to develop methods for T. cruzi typing in vivo.