A Combination of MALDI-TOF MS Proteomics and Species-Unique Biomarkers’ Discovery for Rapid Screening of Brucellosis

Brucellosis is considered to be a zoonotic infection with a predominant incidence in most parts of Iran that may even simply involve diagnostic laboratory personnel. In the present study, we apply matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization-time-of-flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF MS) for rapid and reliable discrimination of Brucella abortus and Brucella melitensis, based on proteomic mass patterns from chemically treated whole-cell analyses. Biomarkers of the low molecular weight proteome in the MALDI-TOF MS spectra were assigned to conserved ribosomal and structural protein families that were found in genome assemblies of B. abortus and B. melitensis in the NCBI database. Significant protein mass signals successfully mapped to ribosomal proteins and structural proteins, such as integration host factor subunit alpha, cold-shock proteins, HU family DNA-binding protein, ATP synthase subunit C, and GNAT family N-acetyltransferase, with specific biomarker peaks that have been identified for each virulent and vaccine strain. Web-accessible bioinformatics algorithms, with a robust data analysis workflow, followed by ribosomal and structural protein mapping, significantly enhanced the reliable assignment of key proteins and accurate identification of Brucella species. Furthermore, clinical samples were analyzed to confirm the most dominant protein biomarker candidates and their relevance for the identifications of B. melitensis and B. abortus. With proper optimization, we envision that the presented MALDI-TOF MS proteomics analyses, coupled with special usage of bioinformatics, could be used as a cost-efficient strategy for the diagnostics of brucellosis and introduce a reliable identification protocol for species of dangerous bacteria.