Toxoplasma gondii: bioinformatics analysis, cloning and expression of a novel protein TgIMP1.

Abstract

Toxoplasma gondii is an obligate intracellular protozoan parasite, infecting a large variety of animals and human beings. In recent years, the study of DNA vaccine against T. gondii has made a great progress; however, few vaccines have completely controlled toxoplasmosis. Thus people started to look for more effective antigenic proteins. Here we report a novel T. gondii protein termed immune mapped protein 1 (TgIMP1). We used multiple bioinformatics approaches to predict the physical and chemical characters, signal peptide, transmembrane domain, epitope, topological structure and function of the protein, and we theoretically determined that the TgIMP1 has multiple epitopes, and with immunogenicity, suggesting that the TgIMP1 may be a vaccine candidate against toxoplasmosis. Then the gene coding TgIMP1 was obtained by PCR and connected with cloning vector. Recombinant plasmid was identified by PCR, double digestion and sequencing analysis. Then the TgIMP1 gene was directly inserted into the eukaryotic expression vector pBudCE4.1, so that the recombinant eukaryotic expression plasmid pBudCE4.1-TgIMP1 was constructed. After identification by PCR and restriction enzyme digestion, the recombinant plasmid pBudCE4.1-TgIMP1 was transfected into cells of HFF, and then identified by RT-PCR. The results showed that the eukaryotic expression plasmid pBudCE4.1-TgIMP1 was constructed and was transfected to the HFF cells successfully.

• Authors: Yang Bai, Shenyi He, Guanghui Zhao, Lin Chen, Na Shi, Huaiyu Zhou, Hua Cong, Qunli Zhao, Xing-Quan Zhu
• Journal: Experimental parasitology (Exp Parasitol) Vol. 132 Issue 4 Pg. 458-64 (Dec 2012) ISSN: 1090-2449 [Electronic] United States
• PMID: 23026454 (Publication Type: Journal Article, Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't)
• Copyright: Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Chemical References

• Antigens, Protozoan
• Epitopes
• Protein Sorting Signals
• Protozoan Proteins
• Protozoan Vaccines
• Vaccines, DNA
• immune mapped protein 1, Toxoplasma gondii

Topics

• Amino Acid Sequence
• Animals
• Antigens, Protozoan (chemistry, genetics, immunology, metabolism)
• Cells, Cultured
• Cloning, Molecular
• Computational Biology (methods)
• Epitopes (chemistry, genetics, immunology, metabolism)
• Female
• Gene Expression
• Humans
• Hydrophobic and Hydrophilic Interactions
• Mice
• Molecular Conformation
• Molecular Sequence Data
• Parasitology (methods)
• Protein Processing, Post-Translational
• Protein Sorting Signals
• Protein Structure, Secondary
• Protein Structure, Tertiary
• Protozoan Proteins (chemistry, genetics, immunology, metabolism)
• Protozoan Vaccines (chemistry, genetics, immunology, metabolism)
• Toxoplasma (genetics, immunology)
• Vaccines, DNA (chemistry, genetics, immunology, metabolism)