Schistosoma mansoni: ultrastructural demonstration of a miracidial glycocalyx that cross-reacts with antibodies raised against the cercarial glycocalyx

Cercariae are covered by a glycocalyx that is highly antigenic. Here, we have examined the surface of miracidia for a similar structure. The miracidia are covered by epithelial plates and syncytial ridges. By transmission electron microscopy, the plates and ridges were covered by a 0.5-micron-thick glycocalyx composed of a mesh of 9- to 10-nm fibrils that were stained by ruthenium red delivered in the aldehydes or ferrocyanide-reduced osmium tetroxide. Rabbit antibodies prepared against phenol extracted and chromatographed cercarial glycocalyx were detected by immunoelectron microscopy with secondary antibodies conjugated to horseradish peroxidase. Reaction product bound to both the miracidial and cercarial glycocalyx. In addition, the outer leaflets of the cercarial tegumental membrane and membranes of the miracidial surface structures, including plates, ridges, terebratorium, and sensory papillae, had reaction product. Controls incubated with nonspecific rabbit serum had no reaction product. By indirect immunofluorescence, antibodies against the cercarial glycocalyx stained both plates and ridges. As the miracidia transformed to sporocysts, the glycocalyx remained associated with the plates as they were sloughed. These studies demonstrate that miracidia possess a glycocalyx similar in structure and antigenicity to the cercarial glycocalyx.