Candidate Treponema pallidum biomarkers uncovered in urine from individuals with syphilis using mass spectrometry.
AIM
A diagnostic test that could detect Treponema pallidum antigens in urine would facilitate the prompt diagnosis of syphilis.


MATERIALS & METHODS
Urine from 54 individuals with various clinical stages of syphilis and 6 controls were pooled according to disease stage and interrogated with complementary mass spectrometry techniques to uncover potential syphilis biomarkers.


RESULTS & CONCLUSION
In total, 26 unique peptides were uncovered corresponding to four unique T. pallidum proteins that have low genetic sequence similarity to other prokaryotes and human proteins. This is the first account of direct T. pallidum protein detection in human clinical samples using mass spectrometry. The implications of these findings for future diagnostic test development is discussed. Data are available via ProteomeXchange with identifier PXD009707.
['Osbak|Kara K|KK|', 'Van Raemdonck|Geert A|GA|', 'Dom|Martin|M|', 'Cameron|Caroline E|CE|', 'Meehan|Conor J|CJ|', 'Deforce|Dieter|D|', 'Ostade|Xaveer Van|XV|', 'Kenyon|Chris R|CR|', 'Dhaenens|Maarten|M|']
D000328:Adult D000942:Antigens, Bacterial D001426:Bacterial Proteins D015415:Biomarkers D002986:Clinical Trials as Topic D015331:Cohort Studies D018450:Disease Progression D006801:Humans D008297:Male D011446:Prospective Studies D019032:Spectrometry, Mass, Matrix-Assisted Laser Desorption-Ionization D013587:Syphilis D013588:Syphilis Serodiagnosis D014210:Treponema pallidum
Treponema pallidum urine syphilis mass spectrometry antigen test biomarker discovery data-independent acquisition proteomics