TY - DATA T1 - Identification of the Mycobacterium ulcerans Protein MUL_3720 as a Promising Target for the Development of a Diagnostic Test for Buruli Ulcer PY - 2015/02/10 AU - Anita Dreyer AU - Katharina Röltgen AU - Jean Pierre Dangy AU - Marie Thérèse Ruf AU - Nicole Scherr AU - Miriam Bolz AU - Nicholas Jay Tobias AU - Charles Moes AU - Andrea Vettiger AU - Timothy Paul Stinear AU - Gerd Pluschke UR - https://plos.figshare.com/articles/dataset/Identification_of_the_Mycobacterium_ulcerans_Protein_MUL_3720_as_a_Promising_Target_for_the_Development_of_a_Diagnostic_Test_for_Buruli_Ulcer/1305413 DO - 10.1371/journal.pntd.0003477 L4 - https://ndownloader.figshare.com/files/1892920 L4 - https://ndownloader.figshare.com/files/1892921 L4 - https://ndownloader.figshare.com/files/1892922 KW - Mycobacterium ulcerans KW - case detection KW - Buruli Ulcer Buruli ulcer KW - research priorities KW - Diagnostic Test KW - BU diagnosis KW - reference centres KW - cell wall location KW - skin disease KW - antibody reagents KW - mul KW - tissue samples KW - mouse footpads KW - antibiotic treatment KW - laboratory reconfirmation KW - Promising Target KW - health care KW - ulcerans protein KW - cell wall biosynthesis pathways N2 - Buruli ulcer (BU) caused by Mycobacterium ulcerans is a devastating skin disease, occurring mainly in remote West African communities with poor access to health care. Early case detection and subsequent antibiotic treatment are essential to counteract the progression of the characteristic chronic ulcerative lesions. Since the accuracy of clinical BU diagnosis is limited, laboratory reconfirmation is crucial. However, currently available diagnostic techniques with sufficient sensitivity and specificity require infrastructure and resources only accessible at a few reference centres in the African endemic countries. Hence, the development of a simple, rapid, sensitive and specific point-of-care diagnostic tool is one of the major research priorities for BU. In this study, we have identified a previously unknown M. ulcerans protein, MUL_3720, as a promising target for antigen capture-based detection assays. We show that MUL_3720 is highly expressed by M. ulcerans and has no orthologs in other prevalent pathogenic mycobacteria. We generated a panel of anti-MUL_3720 antibodies and used them to confirm a cell wall location for MUL_3720. These antibodies could also specifically detect M. ulcerans in infected human tissue samples as well as in lysates of infected mouse footpads. A bacterial 2-hybrid screen suggested a potential role for MUL_3720 in cell wall biosynthesis pathways. Finally, we demonstrate that a combination of MUL_3720 specific antibody reagents in a sandwich-ELISA format has sufficient sensitivity to make them suitable for the development of antigen capture-based diagnostic tests for BU. ER -