Purification of Onchocerca gibsoni microfilariae

Forsyth K. P., Copeman D. B. and Mitchell G. F. 1982. Purification of Onchocerca gibsoni microfilariae. International Journal for Parasitology12: 53–57. Viable microfilariae from the bovine parasite, Onchocerca gibsoni, were purified to a level suitable for immunochemical analysis and without appreciable loss in numbers by low speed centrifugation on Ficoll-paque. Microfilariae were obtained by incubation of intact O. gibsoni nodules or from worm fragments dissected from nodules. After purification, microfilariae were determined as viable by motility, ability to establish in mice and to incorporate ³⁵S-methionine into large numbers of proteins in vitro as determined by two-dimensional gel electrophoresis and fluorography.