Comparative study on Toxoplasma gondii dense granule protein 7, peroxiredoxin 1 and 3 based on bioinformatic analysis tools

Abstract

Toxoplasmosis remains a devastating protozoan disease induced by Toxoplasma gondii (T. gondii) that induces extreme hazards in both medical and veterinary fields. Our previous studies revealed the high immunogenicity and antigenicity of T. gondii peroxiredoxin (TgPrx) 1, 3, and TgGRA7. Herein, the comparison of TgPrx1, TgPrx3, and TgGRA7 was conducted using bioinformatics analysis tools. In this computational comparison, the physico-chemical, morphometric, immunogenic, and antigenic properties were analyzed. Analyses of complete coding sequences showed the probability of signal peptides and transmembrane domains only in the case of TgGRA7. NetPhos server-based prediction revealed 23, 11, and 39 phosphorylation sites in TgGRA7, TgPrx1, and TgPrx3 proteins, respectively. The secondary structure of TgGRA7, TgPrx1, and TgPrx3 proteins were analyzed by PSIPRED servers. The percentage of the random coil and alpha-helix amino acids was higher in TgGRA7 (99.15%), followed by TgPrx3 (85.87%) and TgPrx1 (77.55%). The antigenic epitopes of the protein were predicted by analyzing the features of the IEDB server. The linear B-cell epitope regions prediction of TgGRA7 showed the maximum estimated length (118 amino acid residues). In addition, antigenicity and hydrophilicity index showed similar tendencies among the three tested proteins, TgGRA7, TgPrx1, and TgPrx3. Thus, the current computational analyses represented TgGRA7, TgPrx1, and TgPrx3 proteins as efficient diagnostic and vaccine candidates suggesting further research and assessments. Additional validation of bioinformatic analysis tools in predicting potent diagnostic and vaccine antigens will greatly contribute to the success of control policies against T. gondii and other infectious agents.