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Değirmenci Döşkaya A, Can H, Gül A, Karakavuk T, Güvendi M, Karakavuk M, Gül C, Erkunt Alak S, Ün C, Gürüz AY, Döşkaya M. A preliminary study to develop a lateral flow assay using recombinant GRA1 protein for the diagnosis of toxoplasmosis in stray cats. Comp Immunol Microbiol Infect Dis 2023; 101:102057. [PMID: 37647822 DOI: 10.1016/j.cimid.2023.102057] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/16/2023] [Revised: 08/19/2023] [Accepted: 08/26/2023] [Indexed: 09/01/2023]
Abstract
Toxoplasma gondii is a protozoan parasite that may infect many mammals including humans. Cats are one of the main sources of infection for humans. Therefore, routine screening of cats with tests that are inexpensive, rapid, and do not require sophisticated laboratory equipment is important. In this study, a lateral flow assay (LFA) was designed to rapidly diagnose toxoplasmosis in cats. For this purpose, we selected GRA1 protein of T. gondii due to its high antigenicity in diagnostic and vaccine studies. We further analyzed the immunological properties of GRA1 protein using in silico tools. Then, we expressed and purified recombinant GRA1 (rGRA1) protein and used it during the development of LFA to detect toxoplasmosis in serum samples (n = 40) of cats. According to the results, rGRA1 protein has negative GRAVY value, high aliphatic index, alpha helix, random coil and 12 B cell epitopes. The in silico data supported the high antigenic properties of rGRA1 protein and showed that it can be a good antigen candidate for LFA. Among 30 cat positive serum samples, 27 were found positive by the LFA while seronegative sera (n = 10) were negative by the LFA. The preliminary data showed that the LFA has high sensitivity (90 %) and specificity (100 %). When we used high responsive cat sera (i.e. sera that have optical density > 0.5 with ELISA) the sensitivity value reached 100 %. These results showed that rGRA1 protein is a good candidate to develop a LFA for rapid diagnosis of toxoplasmosis in cats.
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Affiliation(s)
- Aysu Değirmenci Döşkaya
- Ege University Faculty of Medicine Department of Parasitology, İzmir, Turkey; Ege University Vaccine Development Application and Research Center, İzmir, Turkey
| | - Hüseyin Can
- Ege University Vaccine Development Application and Research Center, İzmir, Turkey; Ege University Faculty of Science Department of Biology Molecular Biology Section, İzmir, Turkey.
| | - Aytül Gül
- Ege University Graduate School of Natural and Applied Sciences, Department of Bioengineering, İzmir, Turkey; Ege University Faculty of Engineering Department of Bioengineering, İzmir, Turkey
| | - Tuğba Karakavuk
- Ege University Graduate Faculty of Natural and Applied Science Biotechnology Program, İzmir, Turkey
| | - Mervenur Güvendi
- Ege University Faculty of Science Department of Biology Molecular Biology Section, İzmir, Turkey
| | - Muhammet Karakavuk
- Ege University Vaccine Development Application and Research Center, İzmir, Turkey; Ege University Ödemiş Vocational School, İzmir, Turkey
| | - Ceren Gül
- Ege University Graduate Faculty of Natural and Applied Science Biotechnology Program, İzmir, Turkey
| | - Sedef Erkunt Alak
- Ege University Vaccine Development Application and Research Center, İzmir, Turkey
| | - Cemal Ün
- Ege University Vaccine Development Application and Research Center, İzmir, Turkey; Ege University Faculty of Science Department of Biology Molecular Biology Section, İzmir, Turkey
| | - Adnan Yüksel Gürüz
- Ege University Faculty of Medicine Department of Parasitology, İzmir, Turkey; Ege University Vaccine Development Application and Research Center, İzmir, Turkey
| | - Mert Döşkaya
- Ege University Faculty of Medicine Department of Parasitology, İzmir, Turkey; Ege University Vaccine Development Application and Research Center, İzmir, Turkey
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