Antigenicity and immunogenicity of Plasmodium vivax merozoite surface protein-3.

A recent clinical trial in African children demonstrated the potential utility of merozoite surface protein (MSP)-3 as a vaccine against Plasmodium falciparum malaria. The present study evaluated the use of Plasmodium vivax MSP-3 (PvMSP-3) as a target antigen in vaccine formulations against malaria...

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Main Authors: Amanda R Bitencourt, Elaine C Vicentin, Maria C Jimenez, Ricardo Ricci, Juliana A Leite, Fabio T Costa, Luis C Ferreira, Bruce Russell, François Nosten, Laurent Rénia, Mary R Galinski, John W Barnwell, Mauricio M Rodrigues, Irene S Soares
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Public Library of Science (PLoS) 2013-01-01
Series:PLoS ONE
Online Access:https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article/file?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0056061&type=printable
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author Amanda R Bitencourt
Elaine C Vicentin
Maria C Jimenez
Ricardo Ricci
Juliana A Leite
Fabio T Costa
Luis C Ferreira
Bruce Russell
François Nosten
Laurent Rénia
Mary R Galinski
John W Barnwell
Mauricio M Rodrigues
Irene S Soares
author_facet Amanda R Bitencourt
Elaine C Vicentin
Maria C Jimenez
Ricardo Ricci
Juliana A Leite
Fabio T Costa
Luis C Ferreira
Bruce Russell
François Nosten
Laurent Rénia
Mary R Galinski
John W Barnwell
Mauricio M Rodrigues
Irene S Soares
author_sort Amanda R Bitencourt
collection DOAJ
description A recent clinical trial in African children demonstrated the potential utility of merozoite surface protein (MSP)-3 as a vaccine against Plasmodium falciparum malaria. The present study evaluated the use of Plasmodium vivax MSP-3 (PvMSP-3) as a target antigen in vaccine formulations against malaria caused by P. vivax. Recombinant proteins representing MSP-3α and MSP-3β of P. vivax were expressed as soluble histidine-tagged bacterial fusions. Antigenicity during natural infection was evaluated by detecting specific antibodies using sera from individuals living in endemic areas of Brazil. A large proportion of infected individuals presented IgG antibodies to PvMSP-3α (68.2%) and at least 1 recombinant protein representing PvMSP-3β (79.1%). In spite of the large responder frequency, reactivity to both antigens was significantly lower than was observed for the immunodominant epitope present on the 19-kDa C-terminal region of PvMSP-1. Immunogenicity of the recombinant proteins was studied in mice in the absence or presence of different adjuvant formulations. PvMSP-3β, but not PvMSP-3α, induced a TLR4-independent humoral immune response in the absence of any adjuvant formulation. The immunogenicity of the recombinant antigens were also tested in formulations containing different adjuvants (Alum, Salmonella enterica flagellin, CpG, Quil A,TiterMax® and incomplete Freunds adjuvant) and combinations of two adjuvants (Alum plus flagellin, and CpG plus flagellin). Recombinant PvMSP-3α and PvMSP-3β elicited higher antibody titers capable of recognizing P. vivax-infected erythrocytes harvested from malaria patients. Our results confirm that P. vivax MSP-3 antigens are immunogenic during natural infection, and the corresponding recombinant proteins may be useful in elucidating their vaccine potential.
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spelling doaj-art-ab4942ec57844abaac4df03568e2bed72025-08-20T03:26:47ZengPublic Library of Science (PLoS)PLoS ONE1932-62032013-01-0182e5606110.1371/journal.pone.0056061Antigenicity and immunogenicity of Plasmodium vivax merozoite surface protein-3.Amanda R BitencourtElaine C VicentinMaria C JimenezRicardo RicciJuliana A LeiteFabio T CostaLuis C FerreiraBruce RussellFrançois NostenLaurent RéniaMary R GalinskiJohn W BarnwellMauricio M RodriguesIrene S SoaresA recent clinical trial in African children demonstrated the potential utility of merozoite surface protein (MSP)-3 as a vaccine against Plasmodium falciparum malaria. The present study evaluated the use of Plasmodium vivax MSP-3 (PvMSP-3) as a target antigen in vaccine formulations against malaria caused by P. vivax. Recombinant proteins representing MSP-3α and MSP-3β of P. vivax were expressed as soluble histidine-tagged bacterial fusions. Antigenicity during natural infection was evaluated by detecting specific antibodies using sera from individuals living in endemic areas of Brazil. A large proportion of infected individuals presented IgG antibodies to PvMSP-3α (68.2%) and at least 1 recombinant protein representing PvMSP-3β (79.1%). In spite of the large responder frequency, reactivity to both antigens was significantly lower than was observed for the immunodominant epitope present on the 19-kDa C-terminal region of PvMSP-1. Immunogenicity of the recombinant proteins was studied in mice in the absence or presence of different adjuvant formulations. PvMSP-3β, but not PvMSP-3α, induced a TLR4-independent humoral immune response in the absence of any adjuvant formulation. The immunogenicity of the recombinant antigens were also tested in formulations containing different adjuvants (Alum, Salmonella enterica flagellin, CpG, Quil A,TiterMax® and incomplete Freunds adjuvant) and combinations of two adjuvants (Alum plus flagellin, and CpG plus flagellin). Recombinant PvMSP-3α and PvMSP-3β elicited higher antibody titers capable of recognizing P. vivax-infected erythrocytes harvested from malaria patients. Our results confirm that P. vivax MSP-3 antigens are immunogenic during natural infection, and the corresponding recombinant proteins may be useful in elucidating their vaccine potential.https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article/file?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0056061&type=printable
spellingShingle Amanda R Bitencourt
Elaine C Vicentin
Maria C Jimenez
Ricardo Ricci
Juliana A Leite
Fabio T Costa
Luis C Ferreira
Bruce Russell
François Nosten
Laurent Rénia
Mary R Galinski
John W Barnwell
Mauricio M Rodrigues
Irene S Soares
Antigenicity and immunogenicity of Plasmodium vivax merozoite surface protein-3.
PLoS ONE
title Antigenicity and immunogenicity of Plasmodium vivax merozoite surface protein-3.
title_full Antigenicity and immunogenicity of Plasmodium vivax merozoite surface protein-3.
title_fullStr Antigenicity and immunogenicity of Plasmodium vivax merozoite surface protein-3.
title_full_unstemmed Antigenicity and immunogenicity of Plasmodium vivax merozoite surface protein-3.
title_short Antigenicity and immunogenicity of Plasmodium vivax merozoite surface protein-3.
title_sort antigenicity and immunogenicity of plasmodium vivax merozoite surface protein 3
url https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article/file?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0056061&type=printable
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