{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,18]],"date-time":"2026-08-18T05:15:38Z","timestamp":1787030138233,"version":"build-2736575974"},"reference-count":61,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"2","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2023,2,4]],"date-time":"2023-02-04T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1675468800000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100004586","name":"FAPERJ","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["27\/2021"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["27\/2021"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100004586","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]},{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100004586","name":"FAPERJ","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["05\/2021"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["05\/2021"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100004586","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]},{"name":"Inova Fiocruz\/Funda\u00e7\u00e3o Oswaldo Cruz","award":["27\/2021"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["27\/2021"]}]},{"name":"Inova Fiocruz\/Funda\u00e7\u00e3o Oswaldo Cruz","award":["05\/2021"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["05\/2021"]}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Vaccines"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Sphingomyelin is a major constituent of eukaryotic cell membranes, and if degraded by bacteria sphingomyelinases may contribute to the pathogenesis of infection. Among Leptospira spp., there are five sphingomyelinases exclusively expressed by pathogenic leptospires, in which Sph2 is expressed during natural infections, cytotoxic, and implicated in the leptospirosis hemorrhagic complications. Considering this and the lack of information about associations between Sph2 and leptospirosis severity, we use a combination of immunoinformatics approaches to identify its B-cell epitopes, evaluate their reactivity against samples from leptospirosis patients, and investigate the role of antibodies anti-Sph2 in protection against severe leptospirosis. Two B-cell epitopes, Sph2(176-191) and Sph2(446-459), were predicted in Sph2 from L. interrogans serovar Lai, presenting different levels of identity when compared with other pathogenic leptospires. These epitopes were recognized by about 40% of studied patients with a prevalence of IgG antibodies against both Sph2(176-191) and Sph2(446-459). Remarkably, just individuals with low reactivity to Sph2(176-191) presented clinical complications, while high responders had only mild symptoms. Therefore, we identified two B-cell linear epitopes, recognized by antibodies of patients with leptospirosis, that could be further explored in the development of multi-epitope vaccines against leptospirosis.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/vaccines11020359","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2023,2,6]],"date-time":"2023-02-06T03:34:30Z","timestamp":1675654470000},"page":"359","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":6,"title":["Sph2(176\u2013191) and Sph2(446\u2013459): Identification of B-Cell Linear Epitopes in Sphingomyelinase 2 (Sph2), Naturally Recognized by Patients Infected by Pathogenic Leptospires"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"11","author":[{"given":"Laura Sant\u2019Anna","family":"Ataides","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Laborat\u00f3rio de Tecnologia Imunol\u00f3gica, Instituto de Tecnologia em Imunobiol\u00f3gicos, FIOCRUZ, Rio de Janeiro 21040-900, RJ, Brazil"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Fernanda","family":"de Moraes Maia","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Laborat\u00f3rio de Tecnologia Imunol\u00f3gica, Instituto de Tecnologia em Imunobiol\u00f3gicos, FIOCRUZ, Rio de Janeiro 21040-900, RJ, Brazil"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-1754-5870","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Fernando Paiva","family":"Conte","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Laborat\u00f3rio Piloto Eucariotos, Instituto de Tecnologia em Imunobiol\u00f3gicos, FIOCRUZ, Rio de Janeiro 21040-900, RJ, Brazil"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Lourdes","family":"Isaac","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Departamento de Imunologia, Instituto de Ci\u00eancias Biom\u00e9dicas, Universidade de S\u00e3o Paulo, S\u00e3o Paulo 05508-000, SP, Brazil"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-6458-9489","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Angela Silva","family":"Barbosa","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Laborat\u00f3rio de Bacteriologia, Instituto Butantan, S\u00e3o Paulo 05503-900, SP, Brazil"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Josu\u00e9","family":"da Costa Lima-Junior","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Laborat\u00f3rio de Imunoparasitologia, Instituto Oswaldo Cruz, FIOCRUZ, Rio de Janeiro 21040-900, RJ, Brazil"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"K\u00e1tia Eliane Santos","family":"Avelar","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Laborat\u00f3rio de Refer\u00eancia Nacional para Leptospirose, Instituto Oswaldo Cruz, FIOCRUZ, Rio de Janeiro 21040-900, RJ, Brazil"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-9772-849X","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Rodrigo Nunes","family":"Rodrigues-da-Silva","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Laborat\u00f3rio de Tecnologia Imunol\u00f3gica, Instituto de Tecnologia em Imunobiol\u00f3gicos, FIOCRUZ, Rio de Janeiro 21040-900, RJ, Brazil"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2023,2,4]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"287","DOI":"10.1016\/j.vetmic.2009.03.012","article-title":"Leptospira and leptospirosis","volume":"140","author":"Adler","year":"2010","journal-title":"Vet. 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