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An epitope‐imprinted piezoelectric diagnostic tool for Neisseria meningitidis detection
Author(s) -
Gupta Neha,
Shah Kavita,
Singh Meenakshi
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
journal of molecular recognition
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.401
H-Index - 79
eISSN - 1099-1352
pISSN - 0952-3499
DOI - 10.1002/jmr.2557
Subject(s) - epitope , quartz crystal microbalance , neisseria meningitidis , methacrylic acid , bacterial outer membrane , chemistry , molecular imprinting , microbiology and biotechnology , materials science , biophysics , biology , biochemistry , antigen , monomer , polymer , bacteria , gene , genetics , organic chemistry , adsorption , escherichia coli , catalysis , selectivity
Neisseria meningitidis, a human‐specific bacterial pathogen causes bacterial meningitis by invading the meninges (outer lining) of central nervous system. It is the polysaccharide present on the bacterial capsid that distinguishes various serogroups of N. meningitidis and can be utilized as antigens to elicit immune response. A computational approach identified candidate T‐cell epitopes from outer membrane proteins Por B of N. meningitidis (MC58): ( 273 KGLVDDADI 282 in loop VII and 170 GRHNSESYH 179 in loop IV) present on the exposed surface of immunogenic loops of class 3 outer membrane proteins allele of N. meningitidis . One of them, KGLVDDADI is used here for designing a diagnostic tool via molecularly imprinted piezoelectric sensor (molecularly imprinted polymer‐quartz crystal microbalance) for N. meningitidis strain MC58. Methacrylic acid, ethylene glycol dimethacrylate and azoisobutyronitrile were used as functional monomer, cross‐linker and initiator, respectively. The epitope can be simultaneously bound to methacrylic acid and fitted into the shape‐selective cavities. On extraction of epitope sequence from thus grafted polymeric film, shape‐selective and sensitive sites were generated on electrochemical quartz crystal microbalance crystal, ie, known as epitope imprinted polymers. Imprinting was characterized by atomic force microscopy images. The epitope‐imprinted sensor was able to selectively bind N. meningitidis proteins present in blood serum of patients suffering from brain fever. Thus, fabricated sensor can be used as a diagnostic tool for meningitis disease.