Evaluation of Neospora caninum truncated dense granule protein 2 for serodiagnosis by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay in dogs

• Published in: Experimental parasitology Vol. 157; pp. 88 - 91
• Main Authors: Jin, Chunmei, Yu, Longzheng, Wang, Yinan, Hu, Shiyue, Zhang, Shoufa
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Elsevier Inc 01.10.2015
• Subjects: Animals; Antibodies, Protozoan - blood; Antigens, Protozoan - immunology; Cercopithecus aethiops; Coccidiosis - diagnosis; Coccidiosis - veterinary; Dog Diseases - diagnosis; Dogs; ELISA; Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay - methods; Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay - veterinary; Mice; NcGRA2t; Neospora - chemistry; Neospora - immunology; Neospora caninum; Protozoan Proteins - immunology; Recombinant Proteins - immunology; Specific Pathogen-Free Organisms; Toxoplasma gondii; Vero Cells; Neospora caninum; NcGRA2t; ELISA
• ISSN: 0014-4894; 1090-2449
• DOI: 10.1016/j.exppara.2015.07.003

Neosporosis is an infectious disease caused by Neospora caninum, and it primarily affects cattle and dogs. An infection by N. caninum causes fetal abortion and neonatal mortality. Previous proteomics and immunoscreening analyses revealed that N. caninum dense granule antigen 2 (NcGRA2) has potential for serodiagnosis of N. caninum. Consequently, we expressed the truncated NcGRA2 (NcGRA2t), which lacks a signal peptide. We compared the serodiagnostic performances of recombinant NcGRA2t with that of truncated surface antigen 1 of N. caninum (NcSAG1t). Specificity testing using sera from mice infected with Toxoplasma gondii indicated that the NcGRA2t recombinant protein does not cross-react with T. gondii. In addition, we detected anti-NcGRA2t antibody at the acute stage in experimentally infected dogs, while detecting anti-NcSAG1t antibody during both the acute and chronic stages. Our results suggest that the levels of anti-NcGRA2 antibody reflect parasite activation in dogs. In conclusion, antibodies against NcGRA2t and NcSAG1t are suitable indicators to distinguish the acute and chronic stages of N. caninum infection. [Display omitted] •NcGRA2t recombinant proteins do not exhibit cross-reactivity with Toxoplasma gondii.•Established an ELISA based on NcGRA2t to detect Neospora caninum-infection in dogs.•NcGRA2t could be a suitable source of antigen for the detection of early infection.