Abstract
Peptide-based vaccines have demonstrated to be an important way to induce long-lived immune responses and, therefore, a promising strategy in the rational of vaccine development. As to malaria, among the classic vaccine targets, the Apical membrane antigen (AMA-1) was proven to have important B cell epitopes that can induce specific immune response and, hence, became key players for a vaccine approach. The peptides selection was carried out using a bioinformatic approach based on Hidden Markov Models profiles of known antigens and propensity scale methods based on hydrophilicity and secondary structure prediction. The antigenicity of the selected B-cell peptides was assessed by multiple serological assays using sera from acute P.vivax infected subjects. The synthetic peptides were recognized by 45.5%, 48.7% and 32.2% of infected subjects for peptides I, II and III respectively. Moreover, when synthetized together (tripeptide), the reactivity increases up to 62%, which is comparable to the reactivity found against the whole protein PvAMA-1 (57%). Furthermore, IgG reactivity against the tripeptide after depletion was reduced by 42%, indicating that these epitopes may be responsible for a considerable part of the protein immunogenicity. These results represent an excellent perspective regarding future chimeric vaccine constructions that may come to contemplate several targets with the potential to generate the robust and protective immune response that a vivax malaria vaccine needs to succeed.
Highlights
Malaria disease represents a huge challenge for public authorities in Brazil and in the worldwide
While deaths and several cases are mostly reported coming from P. falciparum infection, P. vivax is responsible for causing 90% of cases registered outside Africa
The majority of them have had both most prevalent species currently circulating in Brazil: P. falciparum and P. vivax (44.6%), following by those who have only been infected with P. vivax (37.2%); with none of them (15.7%) and only with P. falciparum (1.65%)
Summary
Malaria disease represents a huge challenge for public authorities in Brazil and in the worldwide. Of the species that infect humans, Plasmodium vivax and Plasmodium falciparum are considered to be the most important from a public health point of view. While deaths and several cases are mostly reported coming from P. falciparum infection, P. vivax is responsible for causing 90% of cases registered outside Africa. New highly antigenic linear B cell epitope peptides from PvAMA-1. Fellows (Bolsa de Produtividade em Pesquisa) from CNPq
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Disclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.