USE OF HELPER T-CELLS TO IDENTIFY POTENTIAL VACCINE ANTIGENS OF BABESIA-BOVIS

Babesia bovis is an economically important hemoprotozoan parasite of cattle that is prevalent in many tropical and subtropical regions of the world. effective vaccines against this tick-transmitted parasite consist of live organisms attenuated by passage through splenectomized calves. However, the nature of acquired resistance to challenge infection with heterologous isolates of the parasite has not been clearly defined. Unsuccessful attempts to select protective antigens have relied upon the use of antibodies to identify immunodominant proteins. In this review, Wendy Brown and Allison Rice-ficht discuss the limitations of this approach and the rationale behind using helper T cells to select potential vaccine antigens.