New highly antigenic linear B cell epitope peptides from PvAMA-1 as potential vaccine candidates

PLoS One. 2021 Nov 2;16(11):e0258637. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0258637. eCollection 2021.

Abstract

Peptide-based vaccines have demonstrated to be an important way to induce long-lived immune responses and, therefore, a promising strategy in the rational of vaccine development. As to malaria, among the classic vaccine targets, the Apical membrane antigen (AMA-1) was proven to have important B cell epitopes that can induce specific immune response and, hence, became key players for a vaccine approach. The peptides selection was carried out using a bioinformatic approach based on Hidden Markov Models profiles of known antigens and propensity scale methods based on hydrophilicity and secondary structure prediction. The antigenicity of the selected B-cell peptides was assessed by multiple serological assays using sera from acute P.vivax infected subjects. The synthetic peptides were recognized by 45.5%, 48.7% and 32.2% of infected subjects for peptides I, II and III respectively. Moreover, when synthetized together (tripeptide), the reactivity increases up to 62%, which is comparable to the reactivity found against the whole protein PvAMA-1 (57%). Furthermore, IgG reactivity against the tripeptide after depletion was reduced by 42%, indicating that these epitopes may be responsible for a considerable part of the protein immunogenicity. These results represent an excellent perspective regarding future chimeric vaccine constructions that may come to contemplate several targets with the potential to generate the robust and protective immune response that a vivax malaria vaccine needs to succeed.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Adult
  • Amino Acid Sequence
  • Antibody Formation / immunology
  • Antigens, Protozoan / immunology*
  • Case-Control Studies
  • Epitopes, B-Lymphocyte / immunology*
  • Female
  • Humans
  • Immunodominant Epitopes / immunology
  • Immunoglobulin G / immunology
  • Malaria Vaccines / immunology*
  • Malaria, Vivax / epidemiology
  • Malaria, Vivax / immunology
  • Male
  • Membrane Proteins / immunology*
  • Middle Aged
  • Peptides / chemistry
  • Peptides / immunology*
  • Plasmodium vivax / immunology*
  • Protein Structure, Secondary
  • Protozoan Proteins / immunology*

Substances

  • Antigens, Protozoan
  • Epitopes, B-Lymphocyte
  • Immunodominant Epitopes
  • Immunoglobulin G
  • Malaria Vaccines
  • Membrane Proteins
  • Peptides
  • Protozoan Proteins
  • apical membrane antigen I, Plasmodium

Grants and funding

This work was funded by the Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES). This investigation received financial support from Fundação de Amparo a Pesquisa do Estado de Minas Gerais/FAPEMIG, Brazil (Grant# CBB APQ-00766-18), the Brazilian National Research Council (CNPq) (Grant# 421392/2018-5, Grant# 312151/2020-9), and Pró-Reitoria de Pesquisa da Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais. DCB, RTF and LLB are Research Fellows (Bolsa de Produtividade em Pesquisa) from CNPq.