A Plasmodium falciparum 48/45 single epitope R0. 6C subunit protein elicits high levels of transmission blocking antibodies

SK Singh, W Roeffen, G Andersen, T Bousema… - Vaccine, 2015 - Elsevier
SK Singh, W Roeffen, G Andersen, T Bousema, M Christiansen, R Sauerwein, M Theisen
Vaccine, 2015Elsevier
The sexual stage Pfs48/45 antigen is a well-established lead candidate for a transmission
blocking (TB) vaccine because of its critical role in parasite fertilization. We have recently
produced the carboxy-terminal 10C-fragment of Pfs48/45 containing three known epitopes
for TB antibodies as a chimera with the N-terminal region of GLURP (R0). The resulting
fusion protein elicited high titer TB antibodies in rodents. To increase the relatively low yield
of correctly folded Pfs48/45 we have generated a series of novel chimera truncating the 10C …
Abstract
The sexual stage Pfs48/45 antigen is a well-established lead candidate for a transmission blocking (TB) vaccine because of its critical role in parasite fertilization. We have recently produced the carboxy-terminal 10C-fragment of Pfs48/45 containing three known epitopes for TB antibodies as a chimera with the N-terminal region of GLURP (R0). The resulting fusion protein elicited high titer TB antibodies in rodents. To increase the relatively low yield of correctly folded Pfs48/45 we have generated a series of novel chimera truncating the 10C-fragments to 6 cysteine residues containing sub-units (6C). All constructs harbor the major epitope I for TB antibodies. One of these sub-units (R0.6Cc), produced high yields of correctly folded conformers, which could be purified by a simple 2-step procedure. Purified R0.6Cc was stable and elicits high titer TB antibodies in rats. The yield, purity and stability of R0.6Cc allows for further clinical development.
Elsevier