RESUMO
Mayaro virus (MAYV), which causes mayaro fever, is endemic to limited regions of South America that may expand due to the possible involvement of Aedes spp. mosquitoes in its transmission. Its effective control will require the accurate identification of infected individuals, which has been restricted to nucleic acid-based tests due to similarities with other emerging members of the Alphavirus genus of the Togaviridae family; both in structure and clinical symptoms. Serological tests have a more significant potential to expand testing at a reasonable cost, and their performance primarily reflects that of the antigen utilized to capture pathogen-specific antibodies. Here, we describe the assembly of a synthetic gene encoding multiple copies of antigenic determinants mapped from the nsP1, nsP2, E1, and E2 proteins of MAYV that readily expressed as a stable chimeric protein in bacteria. Its serological performance as the target in ELISAs revealed a high accuracy for detecting anti-MAYV IgM antibodies. No cross-reactivity was observed with serum from seropositive individuals for dengue, chikungunya, yellow fever, Zika, and other infectious diseases as well as healthy individuals. Our data suggest that this bioengineered antigen could be used to develop high-performance serological tests for MAYV infections.
Assuntos
Infecções por Alphavirus/diagnóstico , Alphavirus/imunologia , Epitopos/imunologia , Infecções por Togaviridae/diagnóstico , Aedes/virologia , Alphavirus/patogenicidade , Infecções por Alphavirus/imunologia , Infecções por Alphavirus/transmissão , Infecções por Alphavirus/virologia , Animais , Ensaio de Imunoadsorção Enzimática , Epitopos/genética , Epitopos/ultraestrutura , Feminino , Genes Sintéticos/genética , Genes Sintéticos/imunologia , Humanos , Imunoglobulina M/imunologia , Masculino , Testes Sorológicos , América do Sul/epidemiologia , Togaviridae/isolamento & purificação , Togaviridae/patogenicidade , Infecções por Togaviridae/imunologia , Infecções por Togaviridae/transmissão , Infecções por Togaviridae/virologiaRESUMO
Most protease prosegments are co-synthesized at the N-termini of cysteine proteases and are involved in folding assistance, inhibition, and activation of their mature enzymes. By using circular dichroism, UV-difference and fluorescence spectroscopies, we studied the thermal unfolding of papain prosegment. The transition seems to be two-state and reversible, with an unfolded state prone to aggregation. Unfolding thermodynamic parameters obtained show low values both for deltaH(Tm) and deltaCp(U), indicative of a loosely packed three-dimensional conformation for the prosegment at near-neutral pH conditions. In spite of these results, fluorescence experiments demonstrate that papain prosegment is able to recognize and inhibit its cognate protease. An acid medium induces a molten globule-like state without intermediates, which in turn undergoes an irreversible thermal unfolding. Our results suggest that papain prosegment has a high degree of conformational flexibility, with the ability to form not only a molten globule-like structure in activating conditions, but also requiring an induced fit in order to be functional as inhibitor.