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Infection and Immunity, December 2007, p. 5947-5955, Vol. 75, No. 12
0019-9567/07/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/IAI.01804-06
Copyright © 2007, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Malaria Vaccine-Related Benefits of a Single Protein Comprising Plasmodium falciparum Apical Membrane Antigen 1 Domains I and II Fused to a Modified Form of the 19-Kilodalton C-Terminal Fragment of Merozoite Surface Protein 1{triangledown}

Bart W. Faber,1,{dagger} Edmond J. Remarque,1,{dagger} William D. Morgan,2 Clemens H. M. Kocken,1 Anthony A. Holder,2 and Alan W. Thomas1*

Biomedical Primate Research Centre, Department of Parasitology, Postbox 3306, 2280GH Rijswijk, The Netherlands,1 Division of Parasitology, National Institute for Medical Research, Mill Hill, London NW7 1AA, United Kingdom2

Received 13 November 2006/ Returned for modification 11 February 2007/ Accepted 1 October 2007

We show that the smallest module of Plasmodium falciparum AMA1 (PfAMA1) that can be expressed in the yeast Pichia pastoris while retaining the capacity to induce high levels of parasite-inhibitory antibodies comprises domains I and II. Based on this, two fusion proteins, differing in the order of the modules, were developed. Each comprised one module of PfAMA1 (FVO strain, amino acids [aa] 97 to 442) (module A) and one module of PfMSP119 (Wellcome strain, aa 1526 to 1621) (module Mm) in which a cystine had been removed to improve immune responses. Both fusion proteins retained the antigenicity of each component and yielded over 30 mg/liter purified protein under fed-batch fermentation. Rabbits immunized with purified fusion proteins MmA and AMm had up to eightfold-higher immune responses to MSP119 than those of rabbits immunized with module Mm alone or Mm mixed with module A. In terms of parasite growth inhibition, fusion did not diminish the induction of inhibitory antibodies compared with immunization with module A alone or module A mixed with module Mm, and fusion outperformed antibodies induced by immunization with module M or Mm alone. When tested against parasites expressing AMA1 heterologous to the immunogen, antibodies to the fusion proteins inhibited parasite growth to a greater extent than did antibodies either to the individual antigens or to the mixture. These results suggest that compared with the individual modules delivered separately or as a mixture, fusion proteins containing these two modules offer the potential for significant vaccine-related advantages in terms of ease of production, immunogenicity, and functionality.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Department of Parasitology, Biomedical Primate Research Centre, Lange Kleiweg 157, 2288 GJ Rijswijk, The Netherlands. Phone: 31152842640. Fax: 31152842601. E-mail: thomas{at}bprc.nl

{triangledown} Published ahead of print on 15 October 2007.

Editor: J. F. Urban, Jr.

{dagger} Bart W. Faber and Edmond J. Remarque contributed equally to this work.

Infection and Immunity, December 2007, p. 5947-5955, Vol. 75, No. 12
0019-9567/07/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/IAI.01804-06
Copyright © 2007, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.



This article has been cited by other articles:

  • Arnot, D. E., Cavanagh, D. R., Remarque, E. J., Creasey, A. M., Sowa, M. P. K., Morgan, W. D., Holder, A. A., Longacre, S., Thomas, A. W. (2008). Comparative Testing of Six Antigen-Based Malaria Vaccine Candidates Directed Toward Merozoite-Stage Plasmodium falciparum. CVI 15: 1345-1355 [Abstract] [Full Text]  
  • Remarque, E. J., Faber, B. W., Kocken, C. H. M., Thomas, A. W. (2008). A Diversity-Covering Approach to Immunization with Plasmodium falciparum Apical Membrane Antigen 1 Induces Broader Allelic Recognition and Growth Inhibition Responses in Rabbits. Infect. Immun. 76: 2660-2670 [Abstract] [Full Text]  


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