Proof-of-Concept Rapid Diagnostic Test for Onchocerciasis: Exploring Peptide Biomarkers and the Use of Gold Nanoshells as Reporter Nanoparticles

• Published in: ACS infectious diseases Vol. 4; no. 6; pp. 912 - 917
• Main Authors: Gonzalez-Moa, Maria J., Van Dorst, Bieke, Lagatie, Ole, Verheyen, Ann, Stuyver, Lieven, Biamonte, Marco A.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States American Chemical Society 08-06-2018
• Subjects: Animals; Biomarkers; Cross Reactions - immunology; Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; Gold; Humans; Immunodominant Epitopes - chemistry; Immunodominant Epitopes - immunology; Metal Nanoparticles; Onchocerca - immunology; Onchocerciasis - diagnosis; Onchocerciasis - parasitology; Peptides - chemistry; Peptides - immunology; Reagent Kits, Diagnostic; Reagent Strips; Reproducibility of Results; Sensitivity and Specificity; gold; rapid diagnostic test; onchocerciasis; nanoparticles; lateral flow assay; nanoshells
• ISSN: 2373-8227; 2373-8227
• DOI: 10.1021/acsinfecdis.8b00031

Three O. volvulus immunogenic peptide sequences recently discovered by peptide microarray were adapted to a lateral flow assay (LFA). The LFA employs gold nanoshells as novel high-contrast reporter nanoparticles and detects a serological response against the 3 peptides, found in OvOC9384, OvOC198, and OvOC5528, respectively. When tested on 118 sera from O. volvulus infected patients and 208 control sera, the LFA was 90%, 63%, and 98% sensitive for each peptide, respectively, and 99–100% specific vs samples from healthy volunteers. Samples of other filarial infections cross-reacted by 7–24%. The sensitivity, specificity, and cross-reactivity values matched those obtained by ELISA with the same sample set. While the exact choice of peptide(s) will require fine-tuning, this work establishes that O. volvulus peptides identified by peptide microarray can be translated into an antibody-based LFA and that gold nanoshells provide the same sensitivity, specificity, and cross-reactivity as the corresponding ELISA assays.