Tehran University of Medical Sciences Iranian Journal of Parasitology 1735-7020 7 3 2012 09 15 54 63 EN DP Kateete School of Biomedical Sciences, Makerere University College of Health Sciences, Kampala, Uganda AND College of Veterinary Medicine, Animal Resources & Biosecurity, Makerere University, Kampala, Uganda C Alezuyo Family planning and HIV Programs, P.O Box 26 Mubende, Uganda AND College of Veterinary Medicine, Animal Resources & Biosecurity, Makerere University, Kampala, Uganda A Nanteza College of Veterinary Medicine, Animal Resources & Biosecurity, Makerere University, Kampala, Uganda C Asiimwe College of Veterinary Medicine, Animal Resources & Biosecurity, Makerere University, Kampala, Uganda AND Foundation for Innovative New Diagnostics (FIND), Kampala, Uganda GW Lubega College of Veterinary Medicine, Animal Resources & Biosecurity, Makerere University, Kampala, Uganda 2015 10 03 Background: There are only four drugs for treating African trypanosomiasis, a devastating disease in sub-Saharan Africa. With slow discovery of better drugs, vaccination is viewed as the best method of control. We previously showed that antibodies to native Trypanosoma brucei brucei tubulin inhibit the growth of trypanosomes in culture. Here, we aimed to determine the effect of antibodies to bacte­rially expressed trypanosome tubulin on T. brucei brucei growth. Methods: T. brucei brucei alpha and beta tubulin genes were individually expressed in Escherichia coli under the tryptophan promoter. Monoclonal tubulin antibodies reacted specifically with the ex­pressed tubulins with no cross-reaction with the opposite tubulin. Rabbits were immunized with 450μg each of the concentrated recombinant tubulin, and production of antibodies assessed by ELISA and Western blotting. The effect of polyclonal antibodies on trypanosome growth was deter­mined by culturing bloodstream T. brucei brucei in up to 25% of antisera. Results: Low antisera dilutions (25%) from the immunized rabbits inhibited trypanosome growth. The most cytotoxic antisera were from one rabbit immunized with a mixture of both alpha and beta tubulins. However, the result was not reproduced in other rabbits and there was no apparent effect on growth at higher antisera dilutions. Conclusion: Antibodies to bacterially expressed trypanosome tubulin are not effective at killing cul­tured bloodstream trypanosomes. https://ijpa.tums.ac.ir/index.php/ijpa/article/view/253 https://ijpa.tums.ac.ir/index.php/ijpa/article/download/253/252