ABSTRACT
The presence of a parasite in a mammalian host inevitably provokes an immune response to the many hundreds or thousands of antigenic macromolecules produced by that parasite, even though relatively few of those antigens may be of critical importance to the outcome of the parasitism. Thus, although a myriad of antigenic proteins and glycoconjugates have now been identified across the whole range of parasitic organisms, only a fraction of these have been shown to be relevant in the context of host-parasite confrontation. In this chapter, the general characteristics of parasite antigens will be discussed before illustrating our current understanding by describing a small number of well-defined antigens from major parasitic pathogens.
