Immunoinformatic-Based Prediction of Candidate Epitopes for the Diagnosis and Control of Paratuberculosis (Johne’s Disease)

Abstract

Paratuberculosis is an infectious disease of ruminants caused by Mycobacterium avium subsp. paratuberculosis (MAP). MAP is an intracellular pathogen with a possible zoonotic potential since it has been successfully isolated from the intestine and blood of Crohn’s disease patients.Since no cure is available, after the detection of the disease, animal culling is the sole applicable containment strategy. However, the difficult detection of the disease in its subclinical form, facilitates its spread raising the need for the development of effective diagnosis and vaccination strategies. The prompt identification and isolation of the infected animals in the subclinical stage would prevent the spread of the infection.In the present study, an immunoinformatic approach has been used to investigate the immunogenic properties of 10 MAP proteins. These proteins were chosen according to a previously published immunoproteomics approach. For each previously-described immunoreactive protein, we predicted the epitopes capable of eliciting an immune response by binding both B-cells and/or class I MHC antigens. The retrieved peptide sequences were analyzed for their specificity and cross-reactivity. The final aim is to employ the discovered peptides sequences as a filtered library useful for early-stage diagnosis and/or to be used in novel multi-subunit or recombinant vaccine formulations.

Encapsulins

“…MAP is also the causative agent of Johne's disease (paratuberculosis) in ruminants and the suspected causative agent in human Crohn's disease and rheumatoid arthritis (124,125). MMPI was found to play a role in the invasion of bovine epithelial cells (126), to induce apoptosis in murine macrophages by targeting mitochondria (127), and to represent one of the immunodominant antigens in ruminant infections (128)(129)(130)(131), which led to efforts aimed at using MMPI for the diagnosis and control of paratuberculosis in cattle (132,133). Further, MMPI has shown promise as an attenuated ruminant paratuberculosis vaccine candidate (134,135).…”

Evaluation of the Fluorescence Polarization Assay for the Diagnosis of Brucellosis in Goat Milk

“…In recent years, some studies have been focusing on new approaches searching for epitopes to diagnose infectious diseases such as immunoinformatic-based prediction or scanning of major antigen proteins [42]. In the case of brucellosis, increased interest has been shown in the use of the outer membrane proteins omp10, omp16, omp19, omp25, and omp31 to improve diagnosis performance by serological methods [43,44] but the detection of positive serum by protein alone is still limited [45].…”

Current Research on Infectious Diseases of Domestic Animals from a One Health Perspective

“…Early and accurate diagnosis is crucial for the effective surveillance and control of diseases, particularly when zoonotic ones are considered. The results of Tilocca et al [ 14 ] on Paratuberculosis support this statement, suggesting that the evaluation of the immunogenic properties of 10 Mycobacterium avium subsp. paratuberculosis proteins could provide a tool for improving the current diagnostic technologies.…”