Antigen composition for detecting chagas disease

A method of producing a soluble and immunoreactive composition of polypeptides suitable for detecting antibodies against Trypanosoma cruzi consisting of three recombinantly produced polypeptides, said method comprising the steps of

• a) culturing host cells transformed with an expression vector comprising operably linked a recombinant DNA molecule encoding a first Trypanosoma cruzi polypeptide 1F8,
• b) expression of said Trypanosoma cruzi polypeptide and
• c) purification of said Trypanosoma cruzi polypeptide
• d) repeating steps a) to d) with an expression vector comprising operably linked a recombinant DNA molecule encoding a second T. cruzi polypeptide JL7
• e) repeating steps a) to d) with an expression vector comprising operably linked a recombinant DNA molecule encoding a third T. cruzi polypeptide Cruzipain
• f) forming an admixture of T. cruzi polypeptides obtained in steps c), d) and e), thereby producing a soluble and immunoreactive composition of polypeptides suitable for detecting antibodies against Trypanosoma cruzi.