Establishment of an RPA-CRISPR/Cas12a combined diagnostic system for Pneumocystis jirovecii pneumonia.

Pneumocystis jirovecii causes severe pneumonia in immunocompromised individuals, leading to high mortality and an economic burden. There is a need for early detection methods suitable for low-resource settings and rapid point-of-care diagnostics. This study developed a detection method using Recombi...

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Main Authors: Yun Wu, Yuhan Shao, Wei Li, Ying Yu, Xia Rao, Jingyi Li, Nicholas R Waterfield, Guowei Yang
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Public Library of Science (PLoS) 2025-03-01
Series:PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pntd.0012922
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author Yun Wu
Yuhan Shao
Wei Li
Ying Yu
Xia Rao
Jingyi Li
Nicholas R Waterfield
Guowei Yang
author_facet Yun Wu
Yuhan Shao
Wei Li
Ying Yu
Xia Rao
Jingyi Li
Nicholas R Waterfield
Guowei Yang
author_sort Yun Wu
collection DOAJ
description Pneumocystis jirovecii causes severe pneumonia in immunocompromised individuals, leading to high mortality and an economic burden. There is a need for early detection methods suitable for low-resource settings and rapid point-of-care diagnostics. This study developed a detection method using Recombinase Polymerase Amplification (RPA) followed by CRISPR/Cas12a with fluorescence detection. The RPA primers and CRISPR-derived RNAs (crRNAs) were specifically designed to target the mitochondrial small subunit rRNA (mtSSU rRNA) gene of P. jirovecii. A total of 83 clinical samples were tested using this method, including 39 confirmed and 44 suspected cases of P. jirovecii infection. The combination of crRNA5 and crRNA6 demonstrated higher sensitivity compared to the current real-time PCR detection method, with a limit of detection (LOD) of 1 copy per reaction and showed no cross-reactions with other respiratory pathogens. The concordance of this method was validated with both infected and non-infected patients. In conclusion, the method developed in this study potentially provides a highly sensitive and rapid tool suitable for the early and on-site detection of P. jirovecii pneumonia. Furthermore, this method holds potential applications for the detection of other human pathogens, representing a significant advancement in diagnostic capabilities for low-resource settings.
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spelling doaj-art-a0a2b080799d402d9ccd87a7ad2cbf882025-08-20T01:55:22ZengPublic Library of Science (PLoS)PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases1935-27271935-27352025-03-01193e001292210.1371/journal.pntd.0012922Establishment of an RPA-CRISPR/Cas12a combined diagnostic system for Pneumocystis jirovecii pneumonia.Yun WuYuhan ShaoWei LiYing YuXia RaoJingyi LiNicholas R WaterfieldGuowei YangPneumocystis jirovecii causes severe pneumonia in immunocompromised individuals, leading to high mortality and an economic burden. There is a need for early detection methods suitable for low-resource settings and rapid point-of-care diagnostics. This study developed a detection method using Recombinase Polymerase Amplification (RPA) followed by CRISPR/Cas12a with fluorescence detection. The RPA primers and CRISPR-derived RNAs (crRNAs) were specifically designed to target the mitochondrial small subunit rRNA (mtSSU rRNA) gene of P. jirovecii. A total of 83 clinical samples were tested using this method, including 39 confirmed and 44 suspected cases of P. jirovecii infection. The combination of crRNA5 and crRNA6 demonstrated higher sensitivity compared to the current real-time PCR detection method, with a limit of detection (LOD) of 1 copy per reaction and showed no cross-reactions with other respiratory pathogens. The concordance of this method was validated with both infected and non-infected patients. In conclusion, the method developed in this study potentially provides a highly sensitive and rapid tool suitable for the early and on-site detection of P. jirovecii pneumonia. Furthermore, this method holds potential applications for the detection of other human pathogens, representing a significant advancement in diagnostic capabilities for low-resource settings.https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pntd.0012922
spellingShingle Yun Wu
Yuhan Shao
Wei Li
Ying Yu
Xia Rao
Jingyi Li
Nicholas R Waterfield
Guowei Yang
Establishment of an RPA-CRISPR/Cas12a combined diagnostic system for Pneumocystis jirovecii pneumonia.
PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases
title Establishment of an RPA-CRISPR/Cas12a combined diagnostic system for Pneumocystis jirovecii pneumonia.
title_full Establishment of an RPA-CRISPR/Cas12a combined diagnostic system for Pneumocystis jirovecii pneumonia.
title_fullStr Establishment of an RPA-CRISPR/Cas12a combined diagnostic system for Pneumocystis jirovecii pneumonia.
title_full_unstemmed Establishment of an RPA-CRISPR/Cas12a combined diagnostic system for Pneumocystis jirovecii pneumonia.
title_short Establishment of an RPA-CRISPR/Cas12a combined diagnostic system for Pneumocystis jirovecii pneumonia.
title_sort establishment of an rpa crispr cas12a combined diagnostic system for pneumocystis jirovecii pneumonia
url https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pntd.0012922
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