# TRYPANOSOMA CRUZI:  ISOLAION OF SURFACE ANTIGEN GENES

> **NIH NIH R01** · UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA-IRVINE · 1989 · $237,897

## Abstract

Trypanosoma cruzi is a parasitic hemoflagellate and is the causative agent
of Chagas Disease.  This parasitic disease constitutes a major health
hazard to man in South and Central America and, thus far, no successful
chemotherapeutic cure or immunological methods to prevent infection have
been developed.  Since both man and experimental animals can develop
acquired resistance against acute infections of T. cruzi, the development
of effective immunoprophylaxis for prevention and control of this parasite
should be feasible with adequate knowledge.  The latter will certainly
include an understanding of the antiparasite immune responses and a clear
distinction between those parasite antigens which may provide protection
and those which might contribute to immunopathological damage in the host.
The ability to clearly identify and isolate or synthesize relevant parasite
antigens would be of tremendous value in these areas.  Accordingly, the
major emphasis of the experiments proposed in this grant is directed toward
the identification of relevant antigens on the surface of the parasite and
development of methods for the procurement of these antigens in sufficient
quantities to test their vaccination properties.  Specifically, we plan to
isolate the 85 and 90 kDa trypomastigote surface antigens and test their
ability to provide protective immunity to mice against a T. cruzi
challenge; (2) To determine whether monoclonal antibodies against these
antigens can confer protection to mice against an otherwise lethal inoculum
of parasites; (3) To characterize the gene(s) which encodes these surface
antigens; (4) To determine the extent and molecular basis of antigenic
diversity among different isolates of T. cruzi; (5) To define on the
antigen gene sequence those regions which encode the antigenic determinants
recognized by the host immune system; (6) To determine the feasibility of
either producing specific antigens in large amounts by use of recombinant
DNA technology or chemically synthesizing peptides which correspond to the
antigenic determinants.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 3128264
- **Project number:** 5R01AI018873-07
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA-IRVINE
- **SAM.gov UEI:** MJC5FCYQTPE6
- **Principal Investigator:** JERRY E MANNING
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 1989
- **Award amount:** $237,897
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 1982-04-01 → 1990-03-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/3128264

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 3128264, TRYPANOSOMA CRUZI:  ISOLAION OF SURFACE ANTIGEN GENES (5R01AI018873-07). Retrieved via MORVS 2026-10-25 from https://api.morvs.ai/grant/nih/3128264. Licensed CC0.

---

*[NIH grants dataset](/datasets/nih-grants) · CC0 1.0*