Development of diagnostic procedures for tick and mite-borne diseases

• Project/Area Number: 18K17366
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Early-Career Scientists
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Review Section: Basic Section 58020:Hygiene and public health-related: including laboratory approach
• Research Institution: Gifu University
• Principal Investigator: Onouchi Sawa 岐阜大学, 応用生物科学部, 助教 (10808330)
• Project Period (FY): 2018-04-01 – 2023-03-31
• Project Status: Completed (Fiscal Year 2022)
• Budget Amount: ¥4,160,000 (Direct Cost: ¥3,200,000、Indirect Cost: ¥960,000); Fiscal Year 2020: ¥1,040,000 (Direct Cost: ¥800,000、Indirect Cost: ¥240,000); Fiscal Year 2019: ¥1,690,000 (Direct Cost: ¥1,300,000、Indirect Cost: ¥390,000); Fiscal Year 2018: ¥1,430,000 (Direct Cost: ¥1,100,000、Indirect Cost: ¥330,000)
• Keywords: ダニ媒介性感染症 / 組換えタンパク質 / 診断法 / 重症熱性血小板減少症候群 / ツツガムシ病 / 日本紅斑熱 / 診断 / ダニ媒介生感染症 / SFTS

Outline of Final Research Achievements

The tick and mite-borne diseases sometimes cause lethal symptoms although they are difficult to be diagnosed. Their golden-standard diagnostic methods take time to make a diagnosis and need a special facility P3 to prepare materials for their diagnostic methods. Therefore, the objective of this study is to establish Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay (ELISA) by using recombinant proteins as an easy-diagnostic method. In this study, we could make recombinant Gn envelope-proteins of severe fever with thrombocytopenia syndrome (SFTS) virus and recombinant 47kDa outer-membrane proteins of Orientia tsutsugamushi which causes tsutsugamushi disease in Japan.

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

本研究ではダニ媒介性感染症のエンベロープタンパク質や外膜タンパク質をターゲットとして組換えタンパク質を作出した。病原体の最外層にあるタンパク質であるため、病原体の感染動態にも関与すると考えられ、本研究で作出した組換えタンパク質は診断法の開発だけでなく、感染動態機序の解明などの基礎的研究にも活用できると考えられる。また、組換えタンパク質を用いたELISAはP3実験設備のない地方衛生研究所でも扱いが可能であるため、広く活用できると考えられる。