Trichomonas vaginalis: Evaluating capsid proteins of dsRNA viruses and the dsRNA virus within patients attending a sexually transmitted disease clinic

Some isolates of Trichomonas vaginalis, the number one, non-viral sexually transmitted disease agent, are infected with one or several distinct double stranded (ds)-RNA virus. Immune rabbit anti-capsid serum (IRS) reacted with the capsid protein of purified dsRNA virus of a subset of the virus-infected T. vaginalis isolates. A monoclonal antibody (mAb) that recognized the capsid protein reactive with the IRS was generated. Analysis of the virus capsid protein of virus-infected isolates by probing nitrocellulose blots with mAb revealed diversity among immunoreactivity and in the size of the reactive capsid protein. Despite difficulties in visualizing virus within parasites by cross-section electron microscopy, gold-conjugated mAb readily labeled the cytoplasm of virus-positive trichomonads. Finally and importantly, isolates infecting patients attending an STD clinic, 75% of which were virus-positive isolates, had capsid protein of the same size detected by mAb present in all dsRNA viruses.