TY - JOUR
T1 - A recombinant chimeric antigen constructed with B-cell epitopes from Mycobacterium leprae hypothetical proteins is effective for the diagnosis of leprosy
AU - Assis, Bárbara P.N.
AU - Chaves, Ana T.
AU - Lage, Daniela P.
AU - Cardoso, Mariana M.
AU - Pereira, Isabela A.G.
AU - Câmara, Raquel S.B.
AU - Freitas, Camila S.
AU - Martins, Vívian T.
AU - Ludolf, Fernanda
AU - de Oliveira, Ana Laura G.
AU - Oliveira-da-Silva, João A.
AU - Tavares, Grasiele S.V.
AU - Galdino, Alexsandro S.
AU - Chávez-Fumagalli, Miguel A.
AU - Machado-de-Ávila, Ricardo A.
AU - Christodoulides, Myron
AU - Gonçalves, Denise U.
AU - Bueno, Lílian L.
AU - Fujiwara, Ricardo T.
AU - Coelho, Eduardo A.F.
AU - da Costa Rocha, Manoel Otávio
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2024 Elsevier Inc.
PY - 2024/7
Y1 - 2024/7
N2 - The diagnosis if leprosy is difficult, as it requires clinical expertise and sensitive laboratory tests. In this study, we develop a serological test for leprosy by using bioinformatics tools to identify specific B-cell epitopes from Mycobacterium leprae hypothetical proteins, which were used to construct a recombinant chimeric protein, M1. The synthetic peptides were obtained and showed good reactivity to detect leprosy patients, although the M1 chimera have showed sensitivity (Se) and specificity (Sp) values higher than 90.0% to diagnose both paucibacillary (PB) and multibacillary (MB) leprosy patients, but not those developing tegumentary or visceral leishmaniasis, tuberculosis, Chagas disease, malaria, histoplasmosis and aspergillosis, in ELISA experiments. Using sera from household contacts, values for Se and Sp were 100% and 65.3%, respectively. In conclusion, our proof-of-concept study has generated data that suggest that a new recombinant protein could be developed into a diagnostic antigen for leprosy.
AB - The diagnosis if leprosy is difficult, as it requires clinical expertise and sensitive laboratory tests. In this study, we develop a serological test for leprosy by using bioinformatics tools to identify specific B-cell epitopes from Mycobacterium leprae hypothetical proteins, which were used to construct a recombinant chimeric protein, M1. The synthetic peptides were obtained and showed good reactivity to detect leprosy patients, although the M1 chimera have showed sensitivity (Se) and specificity (Sp) values higher than 90.0% to diagnose both paucibacillary (PB) and multibacillary (MB) leprosy patients, but not those developing tegumentary or visceral leishmaniasis, tuberculosis, Chagas disease, malaria, histoplasmosis and aspergillosis, in ELISA experiments. Using sera from household contacts, values for Se and Sp were 100% and 65.3%, respectively. In conclusion, our proof-of-concept study has generated data that suggest that a new recombinant protein could be developed into a diagnostic antigen for leprosy.
KW - B-cell epitopes
KW - Chimeric protein
KW - Diagnosis
KW - ELISA
KW - Leprosy
KW - Sensitivity
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85192199179&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.diagmicrobio.2024.116338
DO - 10.1016/j.diagmicrobio.2024.116338
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85192199179
SN - 0732-8893
VL - 109
JO - Diagnostic Microbiology and Infectious Disease
JF - Diagnostic Microbiology and Infectious Disease
IS - 3
M1 - 116338
ER -