Recombinant ROP8 antigen: diagnostics, immunogenicity, and therapeutic targeting in toxoplasmosis

The ROP8 proved to be promising as a potential diagnostic tool enabling the detection of specific IgG antibodies in mouse and human immune sera comparably to the native parasite antigen (TLA). The protein was also capable of activating human monocytes and mouse macrophages <i>in vitro</i> leading to the enhanced clearance of <i>T. gondii</i> tachyzoites via phagocytosis. The protein was also able to activate human monocyte-derived dendritic cells as shown by the cytometric analysis of surface markers and multiplex detection of specific cytokines, also in co-cultures with homologous lymphocytes, leading to Th1/Th17 lymphocyte phenotype. Finally, the proteolytic degradation of rROP8 was significantly inhibited by the presence of all thiazolidin-4-one derivatives, which exhibited high activity against <i>T. gondii</i> in previous studies.