Vol. 9, Special Issue 1 (2024)

Author(s): Dr. A Swathi, Dr. KT Kavitha, Dr. A Sangaran and Dr. BR Latha

Abstract: The impact of zoonotic toxocariosis has been phenomenally increased affecting more than 1 billion people worldwide. Serological investigations are currently practised to achieve satisfactory results in disease diagnosis. However, the usage of native antigen in the diagnostic kits has been proven to be insufficient and difficult to standardize. This leads to a greater scope to identify other potential antigenic excretory-secretory proteins of Toxocara canis larvae (TES). In this study, Tc-TES-26 gene of Indian strain has been characterized for the first time. Phylogenetic tree analysis reveals closer similarity to South America and UK strain. The domain information of TES-26 belonged to phosphatidylethanolamine-binding protein which regulates major immune pathways. The analysis on antigenic B cell epitopes reveals 19 promiscuous peptides which could be used as potential biomarkers. Further, the secondary structure and homology model prediction of this protein reveals structural information to understand the binding activity and interaction with host cells.