Project description:Leptospirosis is the most widespread zoonotic disease in the world. The lack of an adequate laboratory test is a major barrier for the diagnosis, especially during the early stages of illness, when antibiotic therapy is most effective. Therefore, there is a critical need for an efficient diagnostic test for this life threatening disease. In order to identify new targets that could be used as diagnostic makers for leptopirosis, we constructed a protein microarray chip comprising 61% of Leptospira interrogans proteome and investigated the IgG response against leptospiral antigens from 274 individuals, including 80 acute-, 80 convalescent-phase patients and 114 healthy control subjects from regions with endemic, high endemic and no endemic transmission of leptospirosis. A nitrocellulose line blot assay was performed to validate the accuracy of the protein microarray results. We found 16 antigens that can discriminate between acute cases and healthy individuals from a region with high endemic transmission of leptospirosis, and 18 antigens that distinguish convalescent cases. Some of the antigens identified in this study, such as LipL32, the non-identical domains of the Lig proteins, GroEL and Loa22 are already known to be recognized by sera from human patients, thus serving as a proof-of-concept for the serodiagnostic antigen discovery approach. Several novel antigens were identified, including the hypothetical protein LIC10215 which showed good sensitivity and specificity rates for both acute- and convalescent-phase patients. Our study is the first large-scale evaluation of immunodominant antigens associated with naturally acquired leptospiral infection and novel as well as known serodiagnostic leptospiral antigens that are recognized by antibodies in the sera of leptospirosis cases were identified. The novel antigens identified here may have potential use in both the development of new tests and the improvement of currently available assays for diagnosing this neglected tropical disease. Further research is needed to assess the accuracy of these antigens in more appropriate diagnostic platforms. Antibody profiling was peformed on sera from infected and non-infected subjects to investigate the IgG response against leptospiral antigens. These samples comprised 80 acute-, 80 convalescent-phase patients and 114 healthy control subjects, including 29 subjects from United States (non-endemic area), 35 blood donors from Salvador/Brazil (endemic area) and 50 healthy individuals from region with high endemicity of leptospirosis.

Project description:Background: Dengue virus (DENV) infection often leads to acute illness lasting 2-7 days with severity ranging from dengue fever (DF) to hemorrhagic fever (DHF) and fatal dengue shock syndrome (DSS). The dynamic changes of host responses on the gene transcription level that accompany DENV infection and differences between DF and DHF cases have been poorly understood, particularly for South American population. Methodology/Principal Findings: Supported by a longitudinal active surveillance program for dengue transmission in Maracay, Venezuela, we conducted a prospective study to investigate host responses in dengue patients. Blood specimens and clinical information were collected on a daily basis from febrile cases confirmed with DENV infection from their first day of enrollment to early defervescence together with one convalescent sample. A total of 49 and 13 study participants were defined as DF and DHF cases respectively based on their clinical and hematological information. Using convalescent specimens as baseline, day-to-day gene expression was evaluated ex vivo in peripheral blood mononuclear cells of the study participants. Two waves of gene expression were detected: the first wave peaked at day 1 from the onset of fever (day 0) then declined at days 3-4; the second wave emerged from day 4 and peaked around day 5-6. Genes associated with innate immune process, including type I interferon signaling, cytokine-mediated signaling, chemotaxis, and antiviral responses, dominated the first wave; whereas genes involved in cell cycle processes, including cell division, mitosis, DNA replication, chromosome, and spindle organization dominated the second wave. Measureable genomic markers predicted early acute, late acute and convalescent phases with 91% accuracy. Gene signatures expressed in early acute phase predicted disease severity (DF vs DHF) with 96% accuracy. Conclusions/Significance: Our study established a dynamic pattern of detailed host immune responses to DENV infection and revealed genomic signatures valuable for diagnostics purposes.

Project description:Background: Dengue virus (DENV) infection often leads to acute illness lasting 2-7 days with severity ranging from dengue fever (DF) to hemorrhagic fever (DHF) and fatal dengue shock syndrome (DSS). The dynamic changes of host responses on the gene transcription level that accompany DENV infection and differences between DF and DHF cases have been poorly understood, particularly for South American population. Methodology/Principal Findings: Supported by a longitudinal active surveillance program for dengue transmission in Maracay, Venezuela, we conducted a prospective study to investigate host responses in dengue patients. Blood specimens and clinical information were collected on a daily basis from febrile cases confirmed with DENV infection from their first day of enrollment to early defervescence together with one convalescent sample. A total of 49 and 13 study participants were defined as DF and DHF cases respectively based on their clinical and hematological information. Using convalescent specimens as baseline, day-to-day gene expression was evaluated ex vivo in peripheral blood mononuclear cells of the study participants. Two waves of gene expression were detected: the first wave peaked at day 1 from the onset of fever (day 0) then declined at days 3-4; the second wave emerged from day 4 and peaked around day 5-6. Genes associated with innate immune process, including type I interferon signaling, cytokine-mediated signaling, chemotaxis, and antiviral responses, dominated the first wave; whereas genes involved in cell cycle processes, including cell division, mitosis, DNA replication, chromosome, and spindle organization dominated the second wave. Measureable genomic markers predicted early acute, late acute and convalescent phases with 91% accuracy. Gene signatures expressed in early acute phase predicted disease severity (DF vs DHF) with 96% accuracy. Conclusions/Significance: Our study established a dynamic pattern of detailed host immune responses to DENV infection and revealed genomic signatures valuable for diagnostics purposes. Total 64 subjects representing 51 DF (dengue fever) and 13 DHF (dengue hemorrhagic fever) cases were used to study gene expression during the course of dengue acute illness. Sample information regarding Patient No., Infecting serotype, fever status (fever days or defervescent (df) days), and disease severity (DF vs DHF) were provided. The date for a sample for gene chip hybridization and image scanning was marked as Scan date. Samples from study subjects were collected once a patient was enrolled. Over 200 samples were collected. Two genechip platforms were used, the HG-focus and HG-U133plus2. A total of 168 samples were assayed on the HG-focus platform, 2 were excluded for further analysis as they failed on quality control (i.e. VFP-0003_G7_DF, VFP-0029_G1_DF samples). A total of 101 samples were assayed on the HG-U133plus2 platform, 4 were excluded for further analysis as they failed on quality control (i.e. VFP_0186_G4_DF, VFP-0213_G3_DF, VFP_0213_G5_DF, VFP_0220_G3_DHF). Data generated by HG-focus platform were used to explore significantly expressed genes in individual Gs, phases, and for prediction analysis for disease phases. Whereas data generated by HG-U133plus2 were first used to assess the reproducibility of results generated by the HG-focus platform. Secondarily, they were used to perform prediction analysis for disease severity. Samples were grouped into stages (G) based on the timepoint when they were collected: G0=day0 (on the day of fever onset); G1=day 1 (one day after fever onset); G2=day2 (two days after fever onset)M-bM-^@M-&until G5; G6=day6-10 (6-10 days after fever onset); G7= convalescent time point (around day 28 after the first sample). Samples were also grouped into early acute (G0-G3), late acute (G4-G6) and convalescent phases (G7). References for the protocols; PMID 12803996 and 20078211

Project description:Introduction: Serous ovarian cancer is the leading cause of gynecological cancers, with a 5-year survival rate below 45% due in part to the nonspecific symptoms and lack of accurate screening for early detection. In comparison, patients diagnosed at an early stage have a five-year survival rate of 92%, demonstrating the urgent need for biomarkers for the early detection of disease. Serum from patients with serous ovarian cancer contain antibodies to tumor antigens that are potential biomarkers for early detection. The purpose of this study is to identify a panel of novel serum autoantibody (AAb) biomarkers for the early diagnosis of serous ovarian cancer. Methods: To detect AAb we probed high-density programmable protein microarrays (NAPPA) containing 10,247 antigens with sera from patients with serous ovarian cancer (n = 30 cases/ 30 healthy controls) and measured bound IgG. We identified 735 promising tumor antigens using cutoff values of 10% sensitivity at 95% specificity and K-value>0.8, as well as visual analysis and evaluated these with an independent set of serous ovarian cancer sera (n = 30 cases/ 30 benign disease controls/ 30 heathy controls). Thirty-nine potential tumor autoantigens were identified with sensitivities ranging from 3 to 39.7% sensitivity at 95% specificity and were retested using an orthogonal programmable ELISA assay. A total of 13 potential tumor antigens were identified for further validation using an independent ovarian cancer sera set (n = 44 cases/ 34 healthy controls). Sensitivities at 95% specificity were calculated and a serous ovarian cancer classifier was constructed. In addition, we evaluated a longitudinal study using blinded serous pre-diagnostic ovarian cancer sera (n = 9 cases/ 90 controls) to examine the value of three (CTAG1, CTAG2, and p53) of these AAb in comparison to CA 125. Results: We identified 11-AAbs (ICAM3, CTAG2, p53, STYXL1, PVR, POMC, NUDT11, TRIM39, UHMK1, KSR1, and NXF3) that distinguished serous ovarian cancer cases from healthy controls with a combined 45% sensitivity at 100% specificity. In our longitudinal analysis, p53- and CTAG-AAb were detected up to 9 months prior to ovarian cancer diagnosis and increased with CA 125 levels. Conclusion: These are potential circulating biomarkers for the early detection of serous ovarian cancer, and warrant confirmation in larger clinical cohorts. In addition, p53- and CTAG1/2-AAb are detected in a subset of women with ovarian cancer up to 9 months prior to clinical diagnosis. Their utility as a biomarker for early detection, beyond CA 125, warrant further investigation.

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IgG antibody profiling of Leptospira interrogans serovar Copenhageni in infected and non-infected subjects using protein microarray

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