Establishment and evaluation of a LAMP-CRISPR-based nucleic acid detection method for Schistosoma japonicum / 中国热带医学

ABSTRACT

@#Abstract Objective To establish a sensitive and specific nucleic acid detection method for Schistosoma japonicum based on loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP) and clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats (CRISPR) technology. Methods The LAMP primers, gRNA and ssDNA probe that target Schistosoma japonicum SjR2 genes were designed according to the principles of LAMP and CRISPR. The LAMP-CRISPR reaction system was established and optimized. The sensitivity and specificity of the method were evaluated against the ten-fold serial dilutions of plasmid containing SjR2 target sequences, as well as genomic DNA at different stages of Schistosoma japonicum and other parasites, including Fasciola hepatica, Schistosoma mansoni, Taenia saginata, Clonorchis sinensis, Ascaris lumbricoides, Necator americanus, Paragonimus westermani, and Echinococcus granulosus. Additionally, 15 schistosome-infected snail and 30 uninfected samples were tested by LAMP-CRISPR and LAMP methods, respectively, to evaluate the potential of this method for screening for infected snails. Results　The developed LAMP-CRISPR method was able to specifically amplify and detect the SjR2 gene of S. japonicum. The optimal reaction temperature was 37 ℃, and the optimal reaction concentrations were both 40 nmol/L for gRNA and Cas12a protein. No cross-reaction was observed with genomic DNA from other parasites such as F. hepatica. The detection limit of the method was 10 copies/μL when testing 10-fold dilutions of recombinant plasmids as a template. Furthermore, the LAMP-CRISPR method was able to accurately detect genomic DNA from S. japonicum at various stages of development, including eggs, cercariae, schistosomula, juvenile worms, and adult worms. The results of testing 45 snail samples showed no significant difference between the LAMP-CRISPR and LAMP methods for detecting infected snails (χ2=0.05, P>0.05). The sensitivity and specificity of the LAMP-CRISPR method were 100.00% (15/15) and 96.67% (29/30), respectively, compared to the gold standard, while the sensitivity and specificity of the LAMP method were 100.00% (15/15) and 93.33% (28/30), respectively. Conclusions　This established LAMP-CRISPR detection method presented good sensitivity, specificity and reliability, making it a promising tool for rapid detection and risk monitoring of S. japonicum.