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Infection and Immunity, March 2002, p. 1417-1421, Vol. 70, No. 3
0019-9567/02/$04.00+0 DOI: 10.1128/IAI.70.3.1417-1421.2002
Copyright © 2002, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.
Molecular Immunology Group, Nuffield Department of Medicine, Institute of Molecular Medicine, John Radcliffe Hospital, University of Oxford, Oxford OX3 9DU,1 Institute for Animal Health, Compton, Berkshire RG20 7NN, United Kingdom,5 Department of Immunology, Walter Reed Army Institute of Research,2 Malaria Vaccine Development Program, U.S. Agency for International Development, Washington, D.C.,7 KEMRI Centre for Geographical Medicine Research (Coast), Kilifi District Hospital, Kilifi, Kenya,3 Medical Research Council Laboratories, Fajara, Banjul, The Gambia,4 Department of Molecular Virology and Microbiology and Medicine, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas,6 Laboratory of Parasitic Disease, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland,8 Vaccines and Infectious Diseases Unit, The Austin Research Institute, Victoria 3084, Australia9
Received 18 April 2001/ Returned for modification 11 June 2001/ Accepted 24 October 2001
Plasmodium falciparum malaria is a major cause of death in the tropics. The 19-kDa subunit of P. falciparum merozoite surface protein 1 (MSP-119), a major blood stage vaccine candidate, is the target of cellular and humoral immune responses in animals and humans. In this phase I trial of MSP-119, immunization of nonexposed human volunteers with either of the two allelic forms of recombinant MSP-119 induced high levels of antigen-specific Th1 (gamma interferon) and Th2 (interleukin 4 [IL-4] and IL-10) type lymphokines. The adjustment of the antigen dose and number of immunizations regulated the level of specificity of immune responses and Th1/Th2 bias of responses induced by vaccination. Novel conserved and allelic T-cell epitopes which induced cross-strain immune responses were identified. Importantly, responses to many of these novel epitopes were also present in adults exposed to malaria, both in east (Kenya) and west Africa (The Gambia). These data suggest that epitope-specific naturally acquired MSP-119 immune responses in endemic populations can be boosted by vaccination.
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