Structure, immunoreactivity, and in silico epitope determination of SmSPI S. mansoni serpin for immunodiagnostic application

DOI: 10.3390/vaccines9040322

Authors: Stefano De Benedetti (Università degli Studi di Milano) , Flavio Di Pisa (University of Siena) , Enrico Mario Alessandro Fassi (Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, Istituto di Scienze e Tecnologie Chimiche “Giulio Natta” (SCITEC); Università degli Studi di Milano) , Marina Cretich (Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, Istituto di Scienze e Tecnologie Chimiche “Giulio Natta” (SCITEC)) , Angelo Musicò (Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, Istituto di Scienze e Tecnologie Chimiche “Giulio Natta” (SCITEC)) , Roberto Frigerio (Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, Istituto di Scienze e Tecnologie Chimiche “Giulio Natta” (SCITEC)) , Alessandro Mussida (Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, Istituto di Scienze e Tecnologie Chimiche “Giulio Natta” (SCITEC)) , Mauro Bombaci (Padiglione Romeo ed Enrica Invernizzi, IRCCS Ospedale Maggiore Policlinico) , Renata Grifantini (Padiglione Romeo ed Enrica Invernizzi, IRCCS Ospedale Maggiore Policlinico) , Giorgio Colombo (Università di Pavia) , Martino Bolognesi (Università degli Studi di Milan) , Romualdo Grande (UOC Microbiologia Clinica, Virologia e Diagnostica delle Bioemergenze ASST FBF Sacco) , Nadia Zanchetta (UOC Microbiologia Clinica, Virologia e Diagnostica delle Bioemergenze ASST FBF Sacco) , Maria Rita Gismondo (UOC Microbiologia Clinica, Virologia e Diagnostica delle Bioemergenze ASST FBF Sacco; Luigi Sacco Hospital, University of Milan) , Davide Mileto (UOC Microbiologia Clinica, Virologia e Diagnostica delle Bioemergenze ASST FBF Sacco) , Alessandro Mancon (UOC Microbiologia Clinica, Virologia e Diagnostica delle Bioemergenze ASST FBF Sacco) , Louise Jane Gourlay (Università degli Studi di Milano)
Co-authored by industrial partner: No

Type: Journal Paper
Journal: Vaccines , VOL 9

State: Published (Approved)
Published: April 2021
Diamond Proposal Number(s): 5912

Abstract: The human parasitic disease Schistosomiasis is caused by the Schistosoma trematode flatworm that infects freshwaters in tropical regions of the world, particularly in Sub-Saharan Africa, South America, and the Far-East. It has also been observed as an emerging disease in Europe, due to increased immigration. In addition to improved therapeutic strategies, it is imperative to develop novel, rapid, and sensitive diagnostic tests that can detect the Schistosoma parasite, allowing timely treatment. Present diagnosis is difficult and involves microscopy-based detection of Schistosoma eggs in the feces. In this context, we present the 3.22 Å resolution crystal structure of the circulating antigen Serine protease inhibitor from S. mansoni (SmSPI), and we describe it as a potential serodiagnostic marker. Moreover, we identify three potential immunoreactive epitopes using in silico-based epitope mapping methods. Here, we confirm effective immune sera reactivity of the recombinant antigen, suggesting the further investigation of the protein and/or its predicted epitopes as serodiagnostic Schistosomiasis biomarkers.

Journal Keywords: Neglected Tropical Disease; circulating antigen; crystal structure; in silico epitope predictions; schistosomiasis; Serine protease inhibitor; immunodiagnostics

Diamond Keywords: Schistosomiasis

Subject Areas: Biology and Bio-materials, Medicine


Instruments: I24-Microfocus Macromolecular Crystallography

Added On: 06/04/2021 14:06

Documents:
vaccines-09-00322-v2.pdf

Discipline Tags:

Pathogens Infectious Diseases Disease in the Developing World Health & Wellbeing Structural biology Life Sciences & Biotech Parasitology

Technical Tags:

Diffraction Macromolecular Crystallography (MX)