Leonardo Lopes da Luz

Verified @gmail.com

Centro Multiusuário de Bioinsumos e Tecnologias em Saúde
Federal University of Goiás

Leonardo Lopes da Luz


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https://researchid.co/leonardolopesluz

EDUCATION

Degree in Biotechnology
Master in Microbiology (Virology)
PhD in Tropical Medicine and Public Health (Applied Immunology)

RESEARCH, TEACHING, or OTHER INTERESTS

Biotechnology, Immunology and Microbiology, Applied Microbiology and Biotechnology, Molecular Biology

FUTURE PROJECTS

New biotechnologies to leprosy diagnostic


Applications Invited

Development of rapid tests to infectious disease


Applications Invited

Rapid molecular detection of genomic DNA of bacteria


Applications Invited
18

Scopus Publications

Scopus Publications

  • Electrochemical strategies for lateral flow and LAMP-Based platforms toward pathogen detection: A critical review
    Lucas F. de Lima, Paulo Felipe Neves Estrela, Leonardo Lopes-Luz, Lauro A. Pradela-Filho, Jonatas V. Souza, Daniel Júnior Almeida dos Santos, Gabriela R.M. Duarte, Wendell K.T. Coltro, Thiago R.L.C. Paixão
    Analytica Chimica Acta, 2026
  • Thermodynamic Determinants in Antibody-Free Nucleic Acid Lateral Flow Assays (AF-NALFA): Lessons from Molecular Detection of Listeria monocytogenes, Mycobacterium leprae and Leishmania amazonensis
    Leonardo Lopes-Luz, Paula Correa Neddermeyer, Gabryele Cardoso Sampaio, Luana Michele Alves, Matheus Bernardes Torres Fogaça, Djairo Pastor Saavedra, Mariane Martins de Araújo Stefani, Samira Bührer-Sékula
    Biomolecules, 2025
    Antibody-free nucleic acid lateral flow assays (AF-NALFA) are an established approach for rapid detection of amplified pathogens DNA but can yield inconsistent signals across targets. Since AF-NALFA depends on dual hybridization of probes to single-stranded amplicons (ssDNA), site-specific thermodynamic (Gibbs free energy-ΔG) at probe-binding regions may be crucial for performance. This study investigated how site-specific-ΔG and sequence complementarity at probe-binding regions determine Test-line signal generation, comparing native and synthetic amplicons and assessing the effects of local secondary structures and mismatches. Asymmetric PCR-generated ssDNA amplicons of Listeria monocytogenes, Mycobacterium leprae, and Leishmania amazonensis were analyzed in silico and tested in AF-NALFA prototypes with gold-labeled thiol probes and biotinylated capture probes. T-line signals were photographed, quantified (ImageJ version 1.4k), and statistically correlated with site-specific-ΔG. While native ssDNA from M. leprae and L. amazonensis failed to produce AF-NALFA T-line signals, L. monocytogenes yielded strong detection. Site-specific-ΔG below −10 kcal/mol correlated with reduced hybridization. Synthetic oligos preserved signals despite structural constraints, whereas ~3–4 mismatches, especially at capture probe regions, markedly impaired T-line intensity. The performance of AF-NALFA depends on the synergism between thermodynamic accessibility, site-specific-ΔG-induced site constraints, and sequence complementarity. Because genomic context affects hybridization, target-specific thermodynamic in silico evaluation is necessary for reliable pathogen DNA detection.
  • Development and optimization of an antibody-free nucleic acid lateral flow assay (AF-NALFA) as part of a molecular toolkit for visual readout of amplified Listeria monocytogenes DNA
    Leonardo Lopes-Luz, Gabryele Cardoso Sampaio, Luana Michele Alves, Djairo Pastor Saavedra, Luana Simões da Mata, Ana Lídia Schröder, Lucas Carvalho Sucupira, Matheus Bernardes Torres Fogaça, Paula Correa Neddermeyer, Mariane Martins de Araújo Stefani, Samira Bührer-Sékula
    Methods, 2025
    Listeria monocytogenes is a Gram-positive foodborne pathogen responsible for listeriosis, a severe disease with high mortality in immunocompromised individuals. Rapid and accurate detection in food samples is essential for food safety. In this study, we developed and optimized an Antibody-Free Nucleic Acid Lateral Flow Assay (AF-NALFA) as part of a molecular detection toolkit for the visual readout of amplified L. monocytogenes hlyA gene, in combination with ultra-fast asymmetric PCR (aPCR) and oligonucleotide probe hybridization. Three critical parameters were optimized: oligonucleotide probe concentration on test and control lines, gold nanoparticle-probe conjugation ratio, and running buffer composition. In pure bacterial cultures, the limit of detection (LOD) of AF-NALFA was 12.62 copies for L. monocytogenes ATCC 7644, 8.68 copies for ATCC 19117, and 4.83 copies for ATCC 13932. These values were quantitatively assessed using qPCR, confirming the assay's consistency in detecting low DNA copy numbers. The prototype demonstrated 100% specificity against 13 other bacterial species. Furthermore, it was successfully tested in artificially contaminated UHT milk after 1 year of storage at room temperature, detecting L. monocytogenes at 1-30 CFU/mL without DNA purification or selective enrichment. The AF-NALFA enabled visual detection of target ssDNA hybridization within 20 min, offering a rapid, cost-effective alternative to DNA detection methods requiring expensive equipment, specialized expertise, and time-consuming procedures. These findings highlight AF-NALFA's potential as a complementary tool for L. monocytogenes surveillance, providing a practical solution for rapid screening in food safety laboratories and epidemiological monitoring.
  • Determinants of Delayed Leprosy Diagnosis in an Endemic Area of Northeast Brazil: A Cross-Sectional Study
    William Lucas da Silva Mendes Pina, Lorena Ferreira de Azevedo Melo, Héllen Néo da Rocha, Juliana de Moura, Leonardo Lopes-Luz, Lívia Silveira Silva, Sálvia Cely Cerqueira Carvalho, Glicya Monaly Claudino dos Santos, Victor Santana Santos
    Revista Da Sociedade Brasileira De Medicina Tropical, 2025
    Background: Delayed diagnosis remains a primary challenge in leprosy control, often resulting in severe physical impairment and significant psychological distress among those affected. The factors contributing to this delay are complex and multifactorial, encompassing both patient-related and healthcare system-related elements. To investigate the patient- and health system-related factors contributing to delayed diagnosis of leprosy in an endemic area of Northeast Brazil. Methods: This cross-sectional study included 247 leprosy patients. Demographic and clinical characteristics, along with data on patient- and health system-related determinants associated with delays in diagnosis, were collected. Univariate and multivariate Poisson regression analyses were performed to examine associations between the outcome (delay in months) and the independent variables. Results: The median time from the first healthcare visit to leprosy diagnosis was 15.0 months (interquartile range: 6.0-36.0). Approximately 17% of participants had grade 2 disability (G2D) at diagnosis. In the multivariate Poisson regression analysis, female sex, residence in rural areas, delayed healthcare seeking after symptom onset, lack of initial suspicion of leprosy, multiple referrals requiring four or more consultations before diagnostic confirmation, and prior misdiagnosis with treatment for another condition were independently associated with prolonged diagnostic delay. Conclusion: This study identified significant delays in leprosy diagnosis in Sergipe, Brazil, which may contribute to the persistently high proportion of new cases with G2D. Both patient- and health system-related factors were associated with longer diagnostic delays. Urgent interventions are warranted to increase disease awareness among the general population and strengthen the capacity of primary healthcare services.
  • Production of antigens expressed in Nicotiana benthamiana plant and Escherichia coli for the SARS-CoV-2 IgG antibody detection by ELISA
    Matheus Bernardes Torres Fogaça, Leonardo Lopes-Luz, Djairo Pastor Saavedra, Nicolle Kathlen Alves Belem de Oliveira, Maria Beatris de Jesus Sousa, Julio Daniel Pacheco Perez, Ikaro Alves de Andrade, Gildemar José Bezerra Crispim, Luciano da Silva Pinto, Marcos Roberto Alves Ferreira, Bergmann Morais Ribeiro, Tatsuya Nagata, Fabricio Rochedo Conceição, Mariane Martins de Araújo Stefani, Samira Bührer-Sékula
    Journal of Virological Methods, 2024
  • Development and evaluation of a Lateral flow immunoassay (LFIA) prototype for the detection of IgG anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibodies
    Matheus Bernardes Torres Fogaça, Djairo Pastor Saavedra, Leonardo Lopes-Luz, Bergmann Morais Ribeiro, Luciano da Silva Pinto, Tatsuya Nagata, Fabricio Rochedo Conceição, Mariane Martins de Araújo Stefani, Samira Buhrer-Sékula
    Heliyon, 2024
    Lateral flow immunoassays (LFIA) for antibody detection represent cost-effective and user-friendly tools for serology assessment. This study evaluated a new LFIA prototype developed with a recombinant chimeric antigen from the spike/S and nucleocapsid/N proteins to detect anti-SARS-CoV-2 IgG antibodies. The evaluation of LFIA sensitivity and specificity used 811 serum samples from 349 hospitalized, SARS-CoV-2 RT-qPCR positive COVID-19 patients, collected at different time points and 193 serum samples from healthy controls. The agreement between ELISA results with the S/N chimeric antigen and LFIA results was calculated. The LFIA prototype for SARS-CoV-2 using the chimeric S/N protein demonstrated 85% sensitivity on the first week post symptoms onset, reaching 94% in samples collected at the fourth week of disease. The agreement between LFIA and ELISA with the same antigen was 92.7%, 0.827 kappa Cohen value (95% CI [0.765 – 0.889]). Further improvements are needed to standardize the prototype for whole blood use. The inclusion of the novel chimeric S+N antigen in the COVID-19 IgG antibody LFIA demonstrated optimal agreement with results from a comparable ELISA, highlighting the prototype's potential for accurate large-scale serologic assessments in the field in a rapid and user-friendly format.
  • An indirect ELISA for detecting anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibodies in human sera using a baculovirus-expressed recombinant nucleocapsid antigen
    Matheus Bernardes Torres Fogaça, Gildemar José Bezerra Crispim, Djairo Pastor Saavedra, Leonardo Lopes-Luz, Leonardo Assis da Silva, Brenda Rabello de Camargo, Rafael Alves Guimarães, Tatsuya Nagata, Bergmann Morais Ribeiro, Samira Bührer-Sékula
    Biologicals, 2024
  • A novel highly specific biotinylated MAC-ELISA for detection of anti-SARS-CoV-2 nucleocapsid antigen IgM antibodies during the acute phase of COVID-19
    Leonardo Lopes-Luz, Matheus Bernardes Torres Fogaça, Brenda Garcia Bentivoglio-Silva, Djairo Pastor Saavedra, Luana Michele Alves, Luísa Valério Franca, Gildemar José Bezerra Crispim, Ikaro Alves de Andrade, Bergmann Morais Ribeiro, Tatsuya Nagata, Samira Bührer-Sékula
    Brazilian Journal of Microbiology, 2023
  • Direct immunoassay on a polyester microwell plate for colorimetric detection of the spike protein in swab and saliva samples
    Nikaele S. Moreira, Thaisa A. Baldo, Lucas C. Duarte, Leonardo Lopes-Luz, Karoliny A. Oliveira, Paulo F. N. Estrela, Amanda M. Simões, Samira Bührer-Sékula, Gabriela R. M. Duarte, Wendell K. T. Coltro
    Analytical Methods, 2023
    This study presents the development of a polyester microplate for detecting the S-protein of the SARS-CoV-2 virus in saliva and nasopharyngeal swab samples using direct enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) technology.
  • Challenges and advances in serological and molecular tests to aid leprosy diagnosis
    Leonardo Lopes-Luz, Djairo Pastor Saavedra, Matheus Bernardes Torres Fogaça, Samira Bührer-Sékula, Mariane Martins de Araújo Stefani
    Experimental Biology and Medicine, 2023
    Leprosy is a neglected chronic infectious disease caused by obligate intracellular bacilli, Mycobacterium leprae and Mycobacterium lepromatosis. Despite multidrug therapy (MDT) success, leprosy accounts for more than 200,000 new cases yearly. Leprosy diagnosis remains based on the dermato-neurologic examination, but histopathology of skin biopsy and bacilloscopy of intradermal scraping are subsidiary diagnostic tests that require expertise and laboratory infrastructure. This minireview summarizes the state of the art of serologic tests to aid leprosy diagnosis, highlighting enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and point-of-care tests (POCT) biotechnologies. Also, the impact of the postgenomic era on the description of new recombinantly expressed M. leprae–specific protein antigens, such as leprosy Infectious Disease Research Institute (IDRI) diagnostic (LID)-1 is summarized. Highly specific and sensitive molecular techniques to detect M. leprae DNA as the quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) and the loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP) are briefly reviewed. Serology studies using phenolic glycolipid-I (PGL-I) semi-synthetic antigens, LID-1 fusion antigen, and the single fusion complex natural disaccharide-octyl (NDO)-LID show high sensitivity in multibacillary (MB) patients. However, serology is not applicable to paucibacillary patients, as they have weak humoral response and robust cell-mediated response, requiring tests for cellular biomarkers. Unlike ELISA-based tests, leprosy-specific POCT based on semi-synthetic PGL-I antigens and NDO-LID 1 antigen is easy to perform, cheaper, equipment-free, and can contribute to early diagnosis avoiding permanent incapacities and helping to interrupt M. leprae transmission. Besides its use to help diagnosis of household contacts or at-risk populations in endemic areas, potential applications of leprosy serology include monitoring MDT efficacy, identification of recent infection, especially in young children, as surrogate markers of disease progression to orient adult chemoprophylaxis and as a predictor of type 2 leprosy reactions. Advances in molecular biology techniques have reduced the complexity and execution time of qPCR confirming its utility to help diagnosis while leprosy-specific LAMP holds promise as an adjunct test to detect M. leprae DNA.
  • Detection of Listeria monocytogenes using an immunochromatographic point of care test based on anti-internalin A and B antibodies and a nano-biotinylated detection complex
    Leonardo Lopes-Luz, Marcelo Mendonça, Matheus Bernardes Torres Fogaça, Djairo Pastor Saavedra, Brenda Garcia Bentivoglio-Silva, Fabricio Rochedo Conceição, Mariane Martins de Araújo Stefani, André Kipnis, Samira Bührer-Sékula
    Lwt, 2023
  • Practical use of tobravirus-based vector to produce SARS-CoV-2 antigens in plants
    Ikaro Alves de Andrade, Luísa Valério Franca, Caterynne Melo Kauffmann, Matheus Hideki Kihara Maeda, Lucas Hideo Hataka Koyama, Pedro Ricardo Vieira Hamann, Leonardo Lopes-Luz, Matheus Bernardes Torres Fogaça, Brenda Rabello de Camargo, Bergmann Morais Ribeiro, Samira Bührer-Sékula, Tatsuya Nagata
    Journal of Virological Methods, 2023
  • Combined antibodies against internalins A and B proteins have potential application in immunoassay for detection of Listeria monocytogenes
    Leonardo Lopes-Luz, Ernandes Silva-Filho, Marcelo Mendonça, Ângela Nunes Moreira, Andressa Venceslau, Dienny Rodrigues de Sousa, Tatiana Galvez Sánchez, Rodrigo Scaliante de Moura, Fabricio Rochedo Conceição, André Kipnis, Mariane Martins de Araújo Stefani, Samira Bührer-Sékula
    Journal of Food Science and Technology, 2023
  • Antibody- and nucleic acid–based lateral flow immunoassay for Listeria monocytogenes detection
    Matheus Bernardes Torres Fogaça, Arun K. Bhunia, Leonardo Lopes-Luz, Eduardo Pimenta Ribeiro Pontes de Almeida, José Daniel Gonçalves Vieira, Samira Bührer-Sékula
    Analytical and Bioanalytical Chemistry, 2021
  • Listeria monocytogenes: review of pathogenesis and virulence determinants-targeted immunological assays
    Leonardo Lopes-Luz, Marcelo Mendonça, Matheus Bernardes Fogaça, André Kipnis, Arun K. Bhunia, Samira Bührer-Sékula
    Critical Reviews in Microbiology, 2021
  • Dengue and Zika virus multi-epitope antigen expression in insect cells
    Leonardo Lopes-Luz, Isabela Cinquini Junqueira, Lucimeire Antonelli da Silveira, Bruna Ribeiro de Melo Pereira, Leonardo Assis da Silva, Bergmann Morais Ribeiro, Tatsuya Nagata
    Molecular Biology Reports, 2020
  • Characterization of an infectious clone of pepper ringspot virus and its use as a viral vector
    Moana Lima Tavares-Esashika, Ravi Narayan Souza Campos, Rosana Blawid, Leonardo Lopes da Luz, Alice Kazuko Inoue-Nagata, Tatsuya Nagata
    Archives of Virology, 2020
  • Development of a new tobamovirus-based viral vector for protein expression in plants
    Raquel Medeiros Vasques, Cristiano Lacorte, Leonardo Lopes da Luz, Miguel A. Aranda, Tatsuya Nagata
    Molecular Biology Reports, 2019