Immunogenic Peptides from Pap31 and SCS-α of <i>Bartonella bacilliformis</i>: One Step Closer to a Rapid Diagnostic Tool for Carrion’s Disease

<i>Bartonella bacilliformis</i> is the causal agent of Carrion’s disease, an overlooked illness endemic in the Andean Mountains with Peru being the most affected country. The diagnostic of this illness is a challenge due to the limited resources and the common symptomatology with other i...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Cláudia Gomes, Maria J. Pons, Juana del Valle-Mendoza, Mayumi Matsuoka, Joaquim Ruiz
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2021-07-01
Series:Pathogens
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/2076-0817/10/8/917
Description
Summary:<i>Bartonella bacilliformis</i> is the causal agent of Carrion’s disease, an overlooked illness endemic in the Andean Mountains with Peru being the most affected country. The diagnostic of this illness is a challenge due to the limited resources and the common symptomatology with other infectious diseases. The goal of this study was to identify immunogenic peptides from Pap31 and succinyl-CoA synthetase α (SCS-α) of <i>B. bacilliformis</i> that might be suitable for developing a serologic tool. The immunodominant character of Pap31 and SCS-α was determined by Western blotting and in-silico analysis. Subsequently, 35 peptides were selected for epitope mapping and their immunoreactivity was tested by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). A total of 30 sera were tested including pre-exposed people with high IgM levels for Pap31/SCS-α (23 sera), patients (2 sera) as well as 5 sera with no reactivity to Pap31/SCS-α. The results indicate that Pap31-8 (<sub>187</sub>QAIGSAILKGTKDTGT<sub>202</sub>) and SCS-α-12 (<sub>59</sub>IFASVAEGKEKTGANA<sub>74</sub>) are the most immunogenic peptides, with Pap31-8 showing potential to discriminate between <i>B. bacilliformis</i> and the remaining <i>Bartonella</i> spp., and SCS-α-12 differentiating <i>Bartonella</i> spp. from other microorganisms.
ISSN:2076-0817