Design, Construction, and Evaluation of a Specific Chimeric Antigen To Diagnose Chagasic Infection

Chagas' disease is routinely diagnosed by detecting specific antibodies (Abs) using serological methods. The methodology has the drawback of potential cross-reactions with Abs raised during other infectious and autoimmune diseases (AID). Fusion of DNA sequences encoding antigenic proteins is a versatile tool to engineer proteins to be used as sensitizing elements in serological tests. A synthetic gene encoding a chimeric protein containing the C-terminal region of C29 and the N-terminal region of TcP2β was constructed. A 236-serum panel, composed of 104 reactive and 132 nonreactive sera to Chagas' disease, was used to evaluate the performance of the chimera. Among the nonreactive sera, 65 were from patients with AID (systemic lupus erythematosus and rheumatoid arthritis) or patients infected with Leishmania brasiliensis, Brucella abortus, Streptococcus pyogenes, or Toxoplasma gondii. The diagnostic performances of the complete TcP2β (TcP2β(FL)) and its N-terminal region (TcP2β(N)) were evaluated. TcP2β(FL) showed unspecific recognition toward leishmaniasis (40%) and AID Abs (58%), while TcP2β(N) showed no unspecific recognition. The diagnostic utility of the chimera was evaluated by analyzing reactivity and comparing the results with those obtained with TcP2β(N). The chimera reactivity was higher than that of the peptide fractions (0.874 versus 0.564 optical density, P = 0.0017). The detectability and specificity were both 100% for the whole serum panel tested. We conclude that the obtained chimera shows an improved selectivity and sensitivity compared with other ones previously reported, therefore displaying an optimized performance for Trypanosoma cruzi infection diagnosis

X-Ray diffraction and phosphorous-31 NMR studies of the dynamically disordered 3:2 phenol-triphenylphosphine oxide complex

The 3:2 phenol–triphenylphosphine oxide (phenol–TPPO) adduct was studied by means of X-ray diffraction together with high-resolution solid-state 31P NMR spectroscopy. The X-ray results showed that the crystalline structure, which belongs to the triclinic P[1 with combining macron] space group, involves disorder. There are two molecules of TPPO and three phenol molecules per unit cell. One of the latter is disordered across an apparent inversion centre. Analysis of NMR data in conjunction with the crystal structure allowed the origin of such disorder to be established, showing that it is dynamic in nature. Variable-temperature NMR experiments were performed and a coalescence temperature was found at 247 K. Spectra recorded below this temperature showed two phosphorus signals. The kinetics for the phenol residue exchanging between two different TPPO moieties (two-site exchange with equal populations) were determined. Thermodynamic parameters for the motion were calculated from Eyring plots. For temperatures ranging from 262.9 to 221.5 K, the bandshape analysis technique was used to derive the required data. For lower temperatures, the selective polarisation inversion experiment (SPI) was performed, whilst high temperature values were derived from variable-temperature T1ρ studies. The activation enthalpy (ΔH‡), calculated using the results obtained by bandshape analysis, T1ρ and SPI, was determined as 38 kJ mol−1, while the activation entropy (ΔS‡) was found to be −23 J mol−1 K−1 (assuming the transmission coefficient is ½). Phosphorus-31 shielding tensor anisotropies have been derived for this system by spinning sideband analysis at both fast and slow-exchange limits and it has been shown that the tensor is axially symmetric. Single-crystal experiments show that the symmetry axis of the tensor is along the P[double bond, length half m-dash]O bond (within experimental error)

CEP290 mutations are frequently identified in the oculo-renal form of Joubert syndrome-related disorders

Joubert syndrome-related disorders (JSRDs) are a group of clinically and genetically heterogeneous conditions that share a midbrain-hindbrain malformation, the molar tooth sign (MTS) visible on brain imaging, with variable neurological, ocular, and renal manifestations. Mutations in the CEP290 gene were recently identified in families with the MTS-related neurological features, many of which showed oculo-renal involvement typical of Senior-Loken syndrome (JSRD- SLS phenotype). Here, we performed comprehensive CEP290-mutation analysis on two nonoverlapping cohorts of JSRD-affected patients with a proven MTS. We identified mutations in 19 of 44 patients with JSRD- SLS. The second cohort consisted of 84 patients representing the spectrum of other JSRD subtypes, with mutations identified in only two patients. The data suggest that CEP290 mutations are frequently encountered and are largely specific to the JSRD- SLS subtype. One patient with mutation displayed complete situs inversus, confirming the clinical and genetic overlap between JSRDs and other ciliopathies