title: Linear B-cell epitope mapping of MAPK3 and MAPK4 from Leishmania braziliensis: implications for the serodiagnosis of human and canine leishmaniasis.
abstract: The correct and early identification of humans and dogs infected with Leishmania are key steps in the control of leishmaniasis. Additionally, a method with high sensitivity and specificity at low cost that allows the screening of a large number of samples would be extremely valuable. In this study, we analyzed the potential of mitogen-activated protein kinase 3 (MAPK3) and mitogen-activated protein kinase 4 (MAPK4) proteins from Leishmania braziliensis to serve as antigen candidates for the serodiagnosis of human visceral and tegumentary leishmaniasis, as well as canine visceral disease. Moreover, we mapped linear B-cell epitopes in these proteins and selected those epitopes with sequences that were divergent in the corresponding orthologs in Homo sapiens, in Canis familiaris, and in Trypanosoma cruzi. We compared the performance of these peptides with the recombinant protein using ELISA. Both MAPK3 and MAPK4 recombinant proteins showed better specificity in the immunodiagnosis of human and canine leishmaniasis than soluble parasite antigens and the EIE-leishmaniose-visceral-canina-bio-manguinhos (EIE-LVC) kit. Furthermore, the performance of this serodiagnosis assay was improved using synthetic peptides corresponding to B-cell epitopes derived from both proteins.
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Parasitologia, Instituto de Ciências Biológicas, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil.
authors.forename: Daniel
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Menezes-Souza
authors.forename: Tiago Antônio
authors.initials: TA
authors.lastname: de Oliveira Mendes
authors.forename: Ana Carolina
authors.initials: AC
authors.lastname: de Araújo Leão
authors.forename: Matheus
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: de Souza Gomes
authors.forename: Ricardo Toshio
authors.initials: RT
authors.lastname: Fujiwara
authors.forename: Daniella Castanheira
authors.initials: DC
authors.lastname: Bartholomeu
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D000906:Antibodies / Q000032:analysis / Q000276:immunology; D002460:Cell Line; D004283:Dog Diseases / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000276:immunology / Q000469:parasitology*; D004285:Dogs; D018604:Epitope Mapping; D018985:Epitopes, B-Lymphocyte / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology; D006801:Humans; D007892:Leishmania braziliensis / Q000737:chemistry / Q000201:enzymology* / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology; D007896:Leishmaniasis / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000276:immunology / Q000469:parasitology* / Q000662:veterinary*; D048052:Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinase 3 / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology; D020928:Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinases / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology; D008958:Models, Molecular; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D015800:Protozoan Proteins / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology; D016415:Sequence Alignment; D012698:Serologic Tests
chemical_list: D000906:Antibodies; D018985:Epitopes, B-Lymphocyte; D015800:Protozoan Proteins; D048052:Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinase 3; D020928:Mitogen-Activated Protein Kinases