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Infection and Immunity, January 2000, p. 141-150, Vol. 68, No. 1
Malaria and Structural Biology Group,
International Centre for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology,
Aruna Asaf Ali Marg, New Delhi 110067, India,1
and Prince Leopold Institute of Tropical Medicine, B-2000
Antwerp, Belgium2
Received 15 June 1999/Returned for modification 9 August
1999/Accepted 11 October 1999
Liver-stage antigen 1 (LSA-1) is a potential vaccine candidate
against preerythrocytic stages of malaria. We report here the immunogenicity of linear synthetic constructs delineated as
TH-cell determinants from the nonrepeat regions of
Plasmodium falciparum LSA-1 in murine models and human
subjects from areas where malaria is endemic in Rajasthan State,
India. Seven peptide constructs (LS1.1 to LS1.7) corresponding to
predicted T-cell sites from both the N- and C-terminal regions and
peptide LS1R from a repeat region of PfLSA-1 were synthesized to
analyze the cellular immune responses. These linear peptides were also
tested for humoral responses in order to determine if there were any
overlapping B-cell epitopes in the predicted T-cell sites. Most
peptides induced cellular responses in peptide-immunized BALB/c and
C57BL/6 mice as measured by proliferation and cytokine analysis.
Cross-reactive T-cell recognition of P. falciparum-based
peptides in Plasmodium berghei-immune animals was
evaluated, but only one peptide, LS1.2 (amino acids 1742 to 1760)
triggered T-cell proliferation and interleukin-2 and gamma interferon
secretion in P. berghei-immune splenocytes of BALB/c
and C57BL/6 mice as well as in Thamnomys gazellae (natural
host of P. berghei ANKA). In an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay with the peptides, only one peptide, LS1.1, was
recognized by anti-P. berghei liver-stage serum.
Three peptides (LS1.1, LS1.2, and LS1.3) of the eight peptides tested
in this study were recognized by a relatively large percentage of
P. falciparum-exposed human subjects; the reactivities
ranged from ~45% for LS1.3 to ~60% for LS1.1 and LS1.2.
Interestingly, all of the eight putative T-cell determinants were
also recognized by the sera collected from malaria patients,
although the response was variable in nature. These TH- and
B-cell epitopes may be of potential value for preerythrocytic antigen-based malaria subunit vaccine formulations.
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Copyright © 2000, American Society for Microbiology. All rights reserved.
Analysis of Immune Responses against T- and B-Cell Epitopes from
Plasmodium falciparum Liver-Stage Antigen 1 in Rodent
Malaria Models and Malaria-Exposed Human Subjects in India
*
Corresponding author. Mailing address: International
Centre for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology, Aruna Asaf Ali Marg, P.O. Box 10504, New Delhi 110067, India. Phone: 91-11-6102317. Fax:
91-11-6162316. E-mail: virander{at}icgeb.res.in.
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