Leishmania infantum ß-Tubulin Identified by Reverse Engineering Technology through Phage Display Applied as Theranostic Marker for Human Visceral Leishmaniasis.

Two Leishmania infantum mimotopes (B10 and C01) identified by phage display showed to be antigenic and immunogenic for visceral (VL) and tegumentary (TL) leishmaniasis; however, their biological targets in the parasites have not been identified. The aim of the present study was to investigate the native antigens expressing both mimotopes, and to use them in distinct immunological assays. For this, a subtractive phage display technology was used, where a combinatorial library of single-chain variable fragments (scFv) was employed and the most reactive monoclonal antibodies for each target were captured, being the target antigens identified by mass spectrometry. Results in immunoblotting and immunoprecipitation assays showed that both monoclonal scFvs antibodies identified the ß-tubulin protein as the target antigen in L. infantum. To validate these findings, the recombinant protein was cloned, purified and tested for the serodiagnosis of human leishmaniasis, and its immunogenicity was evaluated in PBMC derived from healthy subjects and treated or untreated VL patients. Results showed high diagnostic efficacy, as well as the development of a specific Th1 immune response in the cell cultures, since higher IFN-γ and lower IL-10 production was found.

Characterization of oligonucleotide aptamers targeting the 5'-UTR from dengue virus.

AIM: The dengue virus is responsible for a high worldwide incidence of infections, aggravated by late diagnosis, and often confused with other tropical diseases. Results/methodology: Oligonucleotide aptamers binding to the 5'-UTR from dengue virus selected after eight rounds by systematic evolution of ligands by exponential enrichment technology were analyzed by dot-blot assay and in silico prediction of secondary structures, demonstrating the presence of stem-loops that may have the potential for interaction with the viral genome, which can lead to loss of their original conformation. CONCLUSION: This is the first description of RNA aptamers against functional RNA elements of the dengue virus genome with implications for disease control, which may have potential as tools in the future of antiviral therapies and for diagnostics.

Short epitope-based synthetic peptides for serodiagnosis of human strongyloidiasis.

Strongyloidiasis is one of the major intestinal infections in humans, and a neglected tropical disease whose diagnosis still poses a challenge. We hypothesized that diagnostic tests based on short peptides containing major epitopes may represent a promising strategy to improve strongyloidiasis detection due to reduced cross-reactivity and higher sensitivity. Our aim was to evaluate two synthetic peptides selected by phage display (C10 and D3) as potential tools for serodiagnosis of strongyloidiasis, and to predict their putative antigen target. To investigate their diagnostic potential, we have tested different panels of serum samples (n=120) by enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) to detect specific IgG, and their diagnostic parameters were calculated. Similarities with proteins from Strongyloides stercoralis were searched and conformational epitopes were predicted and aligned to known protein structures. Both C10 and D3 achieved sensitivity of 95%, and specificities were 89.2% and 92.5%, respectively. D3 presented the highest diagnostic efficiency (93.3%). Epitope prediction for both C10 and D3 led to the alignment with the cytochrome c oxidase subunit 1 structure. In brief, we propose two synthetic peptides as new biomarkers for serodiagnosis of strongyloidiasis, which can be promptly used for ELISA and in future field sensor platforms.

3D Cell-SELEX: Development of RNA aptamers as molecular probes for PC-3 tumor cell line.

Human prostate cancer (PCa) is a highly heterogeneous and multifactorial disease. Current clinical biomarkers are not sufficiently accurate, thus being unable to predict the clinical outcome. Therefore, searching for new biomarkers aiming to improve diagnosis, prognosis and therapy is still required. In this study, we performed 3D Cell-SELEX against PC-3 prostate cancer cell line, a novel strategy to select specific nucleic acid ligands against spheroid cells in 3D cell culture. This original system combines Cell-SELEX, a process that exploits the cellular structure to generate specific ligands, and 3D cell culture, an approach that mimics the tissue microenvironment in vitro. In the first round of 3D Cell-SELEX, a negative selection against RWPE-1, non-tumor cell line, was performed to subtract non-tumor specific aptamers. The supernatant was used in eight additional rounds of selection, which were performed against PC-3 cell line. After nine selection cycles, eight PC-3 specific RNA aptamers were selected and sequenced. The aptamers presented sizes between 20 and 50 nucleotides-long, with low free energy (∆G<-13.6), which contributed for their spontaneous folding and high stability. Furthermore, our results showed the aptamer A4 as a specific ligand to prostate tumor cells, with dissociation constant in the nanomolar scale. Therefore, the novel 3D Cell-SELEX procedure improved the selection of PCa cell-surface ligands and the aptamer A4 has shown potential for the identification of prostate tumor cells, suggesting the application of this molecule in further screening assays for PCa.

A novel reactive epitope-based antigen targeted by serum autoantibodies in oligoarticular and polyarticular juvenile idiopathic arthritis and development of an electrochemical biosensor.

Currently, there are no specific markers for juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA) diagnosis, which is based on clinical symptoms and some blood tests for diseases' exclusion. Aiming to select new epitope-based antigens (mimotopes) that could recognize circulating autoantibodies in most JIA forms, we screened a phage displayed random peptide library against IgG antibodies purified from serum of JIA patients. ELISA assay was carried out to confirm immunoreactivity of selected peptides against sera IgG antibodies from JIA patients, healthy children and patients with other autoimmune diseases. The mimotope PRF+1 fused to phage particles was able to efficiently discriminate JIA patients from controls, and for this reason was chosen to be chemically synthesized for validation in a larger sample size. The synthetic peptide was immobilized onto bioelectrodes' surface for antibody detection by electrochemical analyses through differential pulse voltammetry. The PRF+1 synthetic peptide has efficiently discriminated JIA patients from control groups (p<0.0001) with a very good accuracy (AUC>0.84; sensitivity=61%; specificity=91%). The electrochemical platform proved to be fast, low cost and effective in detecting anti-PRF+1 antibodies from JIA patients compared to healthy controls (p=0.0049). Our study describes a novel and promising epitope-based biomarker for JIA diagnosis that can become a useful tool for screening tests, which was successfully incorporated onto an electrochemical biosensor and could be promptly used in field diagnostics.

A Short Peptide That Mimics the Binding Domain of TGF-ß1 Presents Potent Anti-Inflammatory Activity.

The transforming growth factor beta 1 (TGF-ß1) is a pleiotropic cytokine with multiple roles in development, wound healing, and immune regulation. TGF-ß1-mediated immune dysfunction may lead to pathological conditions, such as inflammation. Chronic inflammatory process is characterized by a continuous release of pro-inflammatory cytokines, and the inhibition or the blockage of these cytokines signaling pathways are considered a target treatment. In this context, despite the high numbers of TGF-ß-targeted pathways, the inducible regulatory T cells (iTreg) to control inflammation seems to be a promising approach. Our aim was to develop novel peptides through phage display (PhD) technology that could mimic TGF-ß1 function with higher potency. Specific mimetic peptides were obtained through a PhD subtraction strategy from whole cell binding using TGF-ß1 recombinant as a competitor during elution step. We have selected a peptide that seems to play an important role on cellular differentiation and modulation of TNF-α and IL-10 cytokines. The synthetic pm26TGF-ß1 peptide tested in PBMC significantly down-modulated TNF-α and up-regulated IL-10 responses, leading to regulatory T cells (Treg) phenotype differentiation. Furthermore, the synthetic peptide was able to decrease leukocytes rolling in BALB/C mice and neutrophils migration during inflammatory process in C57BL/6 mice. These data suggest that this peptide may be useful for the treatment of inflammatory diseases, especially because it displays potent anti-inflammatory properties and do not exhibit neutrophils' chemoattraction.

Prostate-specific RNA aptamer: promising nucleic acid antibody-like cancer detection.

We described the selection of a novel nucleic acid antibody-like prostate cancer (PCa) that specifically binds to the single-stranded DNA molecule from a 277-nt fragment that may have been partially paired and bound to the PCA3 RNA conformational structure. PCA3-277 aptamer ligands were obtained, and the best binding molecule, named CG3, was synthesized for validation. Aiming to prove its diagnostic utility, we used an apta-qPCR assay with CG3-aptamer conjugated to magnetic beads to capture PCA3 transcripts, which were amplified 97-fold and 7-fold higher than conventional qPCR in blood and tissue, respectively. Histopathologic analysis of 161 prostate biopsies arranged in a TMA and marked with biotin-labeled CG3-aptamer showed moderate staining in both cytoplasm and nucleus of PCa samples; in contrast, benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) samples presented strong nuclear staining (78% of the cases). No staining was observed in stromal cells. In addition, using an apta-qPCR, we demonstrated that CG3-aptamer specifically recognizes the conformational PCA3-277 molecule and at least three other transcript variants, indicating that long non-coding RNA (lncRNA) is processed after transcription. We suggest that CG3-aptamer may be a useful PCa diagnostic tool. In addition, this molecule may be used in drug design and drug delivery for PCa therapy.

Anti-type II collagen antibodies detection and avidity in patients with oligoarticular and polyarticular forms of juvenile idiopathic arthritis.

Juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA) refers to a heterogeneous group of illnesses that have in common the occurrence of chronic joint inflammation in children younger than 16 years of age. The diagnosis is made only on clinical assessment. The identification of antibody markers could improve the early diagnosis, optimizing the clinical management of patients. Type II collagen is one potential autoantigen that has been implicated in the process of arthritis development. The aims of our study were to investigate the occurrence of anti-type II collagen antibodies and also to determine the avidity of the antibody-antigen binding. Ninety-six patients with oligoarticular or polyarticular JIA, 13 patients with ankylosing spondylitis (AS) and 61 healthy controls (HC) were tested for anti-type II collagen antibodies by ELISA and avidity ELISA. Sensitivity and specificity were determined by the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis. Forty-two JIA patients (44%) were positive for antibodies against type II collagen. Its detection was significantly higher in JIA patients than in AS patients (p=0.006) and HCs (p<0.0001). Furthermore, anti-type II collagen antibody detection was significantly more frequent in patients with JIA of ≤6 months duration (p=0.0007). Antibodies displaying high avidity to type II collagen were associated with disease activity (p=0.004). This study demonstrates that antibodies against type II collagen are present in the serum of patients with oligoarticular and polyarticular JIA, being its presence more prevalent in patients with early disease. It also demonstrates that JIA patients with active disease present antibodies with high avidity against type II collagen.

Biomarkers for serum diagnosis of infectious diseases and their potential application in novel sensor platforms.

Nanotechnological tools and biomarkers for diagnosis and prognosis, as well as strategies for disease control and monitoring populations at higher risk, are continuous worldwide challenges for infectious diseases. Phage display and monoclonal antibody combinatorial libraries are important sources for biomarker discovery and for improved diagnostic strategies. Mimetic peptides were selected against polyclonal antibodies from patients with dengue fever, leprosy, and leishmaniasis as model diseases, and from immunized chickens with total antigens from all three pathogens. Selected single or combined multi-epitope peptide biomarkers were further associated with four different sensor platforms, classified as affinity biosensors, that may be suitable as general protocols for field diagnosis. We have also developed two methods for nanoparticle agglutination assays (a particle gel agglutination test and a magnetic microparticle [MMP]-enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay [ELISA]) and two electrochemical biosensors (impedimetric and amperometric) for DNA and antibody detection. For the agglutination tests, micro- and nanoparticles were coupled with filamentous bacteriophages displaying the selected mimotopes on their surfaces, which has favored the formation of the antigen-antibody or peptide-protein complexes, amplifying the optical detection in ELISA assays or after the chromatographic separation of the microagglutinates. We have also demonstrated a proof-of-concept for the electrochemical biosensors by using electrodes modified with novel functionalized polymers. These electrochemical biosensors have proven to be fast, very sensitive, and specific for the detection of pathogen DNA and circulating antibodies of patients, which may become important in a wide range of diagnostic devices for many infectious agents.