Antigen Discovery, Bioinformatics and Biological Characterization of Novel Immunodominant Babesia microti Antigens.
Abstract
Babesia microti is an intraerythrocytic parasite and the primary causative agent of human babesiosis. It is transmitted by Ixodes ticks, transfusion of blood and blood products, organ donation, and perinatally. Despite its global public health impact, limited progress has been made to identify and characterize immunodominant B. microti antigens for diagnostic and vaccine use. Using genome-wide immunoscreening, we identified 56 B. microti antigens, including some previously uncharacterized antigens. Thirty of the most immunodominant B. microti antigens were expressed as recombinant proteins in E. coli. Among these, the combined use of two novel antigens and one previously described antigen provided 96% sensitivity and 100% specificity in identifying B. microti antibody containing sera in an ELISA. Using extensive computational sequence and bioinformatics analyses and cellular localization studies, we have clarified the domain architectures, potential biological functions, and evolutionary relationships of the most immunodominant B. microti antigens. Notably, we found that the BMN-family antigens are not monophyletic as currently annotated, but rather can be categorized into two evolutionary unrelated groups of BMN proteins respe...Continue Reading
References
Babesiosis in Long Island: review of 62 cases focusing on treatment with azithromycin and atovaquone
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Babesiosis (ASM)
Babesiosis is caused by parasites of the genus babesia, which are transmitted in nature by the bite of an infected tick. Discover the latest research on babesiosis here.
Babesiosis
Babesiosis is caused by parasites of the genus babesia, which are transmitted in nature by the bite of an infected tick. Discover the latest research on babesiosis here.