Journal
INFECTION AND IMMUNITY
Volume 79, Issue 10, Pages 4260-4275Publisher
AMER SOC MICROBIOLOGY
DOI: 10.1128/IAI.05214-11
Keywords
-
Categories
Funding
- Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, Japan [20590425, 21022034]
- Basic Research Activities for Innovative Biosciences from the Bio-oriented Technology Research Advancement Institution
- Institute of Tropical Medicine, Nagasaki University, Nagasaki, Japan
- Okinawa Industry Promotion Public Corp. (Naha, Okinawa, Japan)
- Grants-in-Aid for Scientific Research [21022034, 20590425, 21390132, 23590490, 23406007] Funding Source: KAKEN
Ask authors/readers for more resources
The creation of subunit vaccines to prevent malaria infection has been hampered by the intrinsically weak immunogenicity of the recombinant antigens. We have developed a novel strategy to increase immune responses by creating genetic fusion proteins to target specific antigen-presenting cells (APCs). The fusion complex was composed of three physically linked molecular entities: (i) a vaccine antigen, (ii) a multimeric alpha-helical coiled-coil core, and (iii) an APC-targeting ligand linked to the core via a flexible linker. The vaccine efficacy of the tricomponent complex was evaluated using an ookinete surface protein of Plasmodium vivax, Pvs25, and merozoite surface protein-1 of Plasmodium yoelii. Immunization of mice with the tricomponent complex induced a robust antibody response and conferred substantial levels of P. vivax transmission blockade as evaluated by a membrane feed assay, as well as protection from lethal P. yoelii infection. The observed effect was strongly dependent on the presence of all three components physically integrated as a fusion complex. This system, designated the tricomponent immunopotentiating system (TIPS), onto which any recombinant protein antigens or nonproteinaceous substances could be loaded, may be a promising strategy for devising subunit vaccines or adjuvants against various infectious diseases, including malaria.
Authors
I am an author on this paper
Click your name to claim this paper and add it to your profile.
Reviews
Recommended
No Data Available