title: A targeted immunomic approach identifies diagnostic antigens in the human pathogen Babesia microti.
abstract: Babesia microti is a protozoan parasite responsible for the majority of reported cases of human babesiosis and a major risk to the blood supply. Laboratory screening of blood donors may help prevent transfusion-transmitted babesiosis but there is no Food and Drug Administration-approved screening method yet available. Development of a sensitive, specific, and highly automated B. microti antibody assay for diagnosis of acute babesiosis and blood screening could have an important impact on decreasing the health burden of B. microti infection.
  
  
  
  Herein, we take advantage of recent advances in B. microti genomic analyses, field surveys of the reservoir host, and human studies in endemic areas to apply a targeted immunomic approach to the discovery of B. microti antigens that serve as signatures of active or past babesiosis infections. Of 19 glycosylphosphatidylinositol (GPI)-anchored protein candidates (BmGPI1-19) identified in the B. microti proteome, 17 were successfully expressed, printed on a microarray chip, and used to screen sera from uninfected and B. microti-infected mice and humans to determine immune responses that are associated with active and past infection.
  
  
  
  Antibody responses to various B. microti BmGPI antigens were detected and BmGPI12 was identified as the best biomarker of infection that provided high sensitivity and specificity when used in a microarray antibody assay.
  
  
  
  BmGPI12 alone or in combination with other BmGPI proteins is a promising candidate biomarker for detection of B. microti antibodies that might be useful in blood screening to prevent transfusion-transmitted babesiosis.
authors.affiliation: Institut de Biologie Computationnelle (IBC), Institut de Recherche en Cancérologie de Montpellier (IRCM-INSERM U1194), Institut régional du Cancer Montpellier (ICM) and Université de Montpellier, Montpellier, France.
authors.forename: Emmanuel
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Cornillot
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine, Section of Infectious Diseases, Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, Connecticut.|Laboratoire de Biologie Cellulaire et Moléculaire (LBCM-EA4558 Vaccination Antiparasitaire), UFR Pharmacie, Université de Montpellier, Montpellier, France.
authors.forename: Amina
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Dassouli
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine, Section of Infectious Diseases, Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, Connecticut.
authors.forename: Niseema
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Pachikara
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine, Section of Infectious Diseases, Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, Connecticut.
authors.forename: Lauren
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Lawres
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine, Section of Infectious Diseases, Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, Connecticut.
authors.forename: Isaline
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Renard
authors.affiliation: Laboratoire de Biologie Cellulaire et Moléculaire (LBCM-EA4558 Vaccination Antiparasitaire), UFR Pharmacie, Université de Montpellier, Montpellier, France.
authors.forename: Celia
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Francois
authors.affiliation: Laboratoire de Biologie Cellulaire et Moléculaire (LBCM-EA4558 Vaccination Antiparasitaire), UFR Pharmacie, Université de Montpellier, Montpellier, France.
authors.forename: Sylvie
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Randazzo
authors.affiliation: Laboratoire de Biologie Cellulaire et Moléculaire (LBCM-EA4558 Vaccination Antiparasitaire), UFR Pharmacie, Université de Montpellier, Montpellier, France.
authors.forename: Virginie
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Brès
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine, Section of Infectious Diseases, Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, Connecticut.
authors.forename: Aprajita
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Garg
authors.affiliation: Division of Epidemiology of Microbial Diseases, Yale School of Public Health, New Haven, Connecticut.
authors.forename: Janna
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Brancato
authors.affiliation: Antigen Discovery, Inc, Irvine, California.
authors.forename: Joseph E
authors.initials: JE
authors.lastname: Pazzi
authors.affiliation: Antigen Discovery, Inc, Irvine, California.
authors.forename: Jozelyn
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Pablo
authors.affiliation: Antigen Discovery, Inc, Irvine, California.
authors.forename: Chris
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Hung
authors.affiliation: Antigen Discovery, Inc, Irvine, California.
authors.forename: Andy
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Teng
authors.affiliation: Antigen Discovery, Inc, Irvine, California.
authors.forename: Adam D
authors.initials: AD
authors.lastname: Shandling
authors.affiliation: Antigen Discovery, Inc, Irvine, California.
authors.forename: Vu T
authors.initials: VT
authors.lastname: Huynh
authors.affiliation: Division of Epidemiology of Microbial Diseases, Yale School of Public Health, New Haven, Connecticut.
authors.forename: Peter J
authors.initials: PJ
authors.lastname: Krause
authors.affiliation: Division of Epidemiology of Microbial Diseases, Yale School of Public Health, New Haven, Connecticut.
authors.forename: Timothy
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Lepore
authors.affiliation: Laboratoire de Biologie Cellulaire et Moléculaire (LBCM-EA4558 Vaccination Antiparasitaire), UFR Pharmacie, Université de Montpellier, Montpellier, France.
authors.forename: Stephane
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Delbecq
authors.affiliation: Antigen Discovery, Inc, Irvine, California.
authors.forename: Gary
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Hermanson
authors.affiliation: Antigen Discovery, Inc, Irvine, California.
authors.forename: Xiaowu
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Liang
authors.affiliation: Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station, New Haven, Connecticut.
authors.forename: Scott
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Williams
authors.affiliation: Antigen Discovery, Inc, Irvine, California.
authors.forename: Douglas M
authors.initials: DM
authors.lastname: Molina
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine, Section of Infectious Diseases, Yale School of Medicine, New Haven, Connecticut.
authors.forename: Choukri
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Ben Mamoun
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000953:Antigens, Protozoan / Q000276:immunology*; D041001:Babesia microti / Q000276:immunology*; D001404:Babesiosis / Q000276:immunology*; D015415:Biomarkers / Q000032:analysis*; D018503:Genome, Protozoan / Q000235:genetics; D006801:Humans; D007700:Kinetics; D051379:Mice; D040081:Protein Array Analysis
chemical_list: D000953:Antigens, Protozoan; D015415:Biomarkers