Structural and functional characterization of a novel scFv anti-HSP60 of Strongyloides sp.

Phage display is a powerful technology that selects specific proteins or peptides to a target. We have used Phage Display to select scFv (single-chain variable fragment) clones from a combinatorial library against total proteins of Strongyloides venezuelensis. After scFv characterization, further analysis demonstrated that this recombinant fragment of antibody was able to bind to an S. venezuelensis antigenic fraction of ~65 kDa, present in the body periphery and digestive system of infective larvae (L3), as demonstrated by immunofluorescence. Mass spectrometry results followed by bioinformatics analysis showed that this antigenic fraction was a heat shock protein 60 (HSP60) of Strongyloides sp. The selected scFv was applied in serodiagnosis by immune complexes detection in serum samples from individuals with strongyloidiasis using a sandwich enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA), showing sensitivity of 97.5% (86.84–99.94), specificity of 98.81 (93.54–99.97), positive likelihood ratio of 81.60 and an area under the curve of 0.9993 (0.9973–1.000). Our study provided a novel monoclonal scFv antibody fragment which specifically bound to HSP60 of Strongyloides sp. and was applied in the development of an innovative serodiagnosis method for the human strongyloidiasis.