A suite of PCR-LwCas13a assays for detection and genotyping of Treponema pallidum in clinical samples

Wentao Chen, Hao Luo, Lihong Zeng, Yuying Pan, Jonathan B. Parr, Yinbo Jiang, Clark H. Cunningham, Kelly L. Hawley, Justin D. Radolf, Wujian Ke, Jiangli Ou, Jianjiang Yang, Bin Yang () and Heping Zheng ()
Additional contact information
Wentao Chen: Southern Medical University
Hao Luo: Southern Medical University
Lihong Zeng: Southern Medical University
Yuying Pan: Southern Medical University
Jonathan B. Parr: University of North Carolina
Yinbo Jiang: Southern Medical University
Clark H. Cunningham: University of North Carolina
Kelly L. Hawley: Connecticut Children’s
Justin D. Radolf: UConn Health
Wujian Ke: Southern Medical University
Jiangli Ou: Southern Medical University
Jianjiang Yang: Southern Medical University
Bin Yang: Southern Medical University
Heping Zheng: Southern Medical University

Nature Communications, 2022, vol. 13, issue 1, 1-11

Abstract: Abstract The performance of commonly used assays for diagnosis of syphilis varies considerably depending on stage of infection and sample type. In response to the need for improved syphilis diagnostics, we develop assays that pair PCR pre-amplification of the tpp47 gene of Treponema pallidum subsp. pallidum with CRISPR-LwCas13a. The PCR-LwCas13a assay achieves an order of magnitude better analytical sensitivity than real-time PCR with equivalent specificity. When applied to a panel of 216 biological specimens, including 135 clinically confirmed primary and secondary syphilis samples, the PCR-LwCas13a assay demonstrates 93.3% clinical sensitivity and 100% specificity, outperforming tpp47 real-time PCR and rabbit-infectivity testing. We further adapt this approach to distinguish Treponema pallidum subsp. pallidum lineages and identify genetic markers of macrolide resistance. Our study demonstrates the potential of CRISPR-based approaches to improve diagnosis and epidemiological surveillance of syphilis.

Date: 2022
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-022-32250-y Abstract (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:nat:natcom:v:13:y:2022:i:1:d:10.1038_s41467-022-32250-y

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
https://www.nature.com/ncomms/

DOI: 10.1038/s41467-022-32250-y

Access Statistics for this article

Nature Communications is currently edited by Nathalie Le Bot, Enda Bergin and Fiona Gillespie

More articles in Nature Communications from Nature
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Sonal Shukla () and Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing ().