Implications from predicted B-cell and T-cell epitopes of Plasmodium falciparum merozoite proteins EBA175-RII and Rh5

  • et al.
N/ACitations
Citations of this article
15Readers
Mendeley users who have this article in their library.

Abstract

The leading circumsporozoite protein (CSP) based malaria vaccine, RTS,S, though promising, has shown limited efficacy in field studies. There is therefore, still a need to identify other malaria vaccine targets. Merozoite antigens are potential vaccine candidates, since naturally acquired antibodies generated against them inhibit erythrocyte invasion and in some cases result in the clinical protection from disease. We thus used in silico tools (BCPreds, NetMHCcons and NetMHCIIpan 3.0) to predict B-cell epitopes (BCEs) and T-cell epitopes (TCEs) in two merozoite invasion proteins, EBA175-RII and Rh5. Initially, we validated these tools using CSP to determine whether the algorithms could predict the epitopes in the RTS,S vaccine. In EBA175-RII, we prioritised three BCEs 15REKRKGMKWDCKKKNDRSNY34, 420SNRKLVGKINTNSNYVHRNKQ440 and 528WISKKKEEYNKQAKQYQEYQ547, a CD8+ epitope 553KMYSEFKSI561 and a CD4+ epitope 440QNDKLFRDEWWK VIKKD456. Three Rh5 epitopes were prioritised, a BCE 344SCYNNNFCNTNGIRYHYDEY363, a CD8+ epitope 198STYGKCIAV206 and a Rh5 CD4+ epitope 180TFLDYYKHLSYNSIYHKSSTY200. All these epitopes are in the region involved in the proteins’ interaction with their erythrocyte receptors, thus enabling erythrocyte invasion. Therefore, upon validation of their immunogenicity, by ELISA using serum from a malaria endemic population, antibodies to these epitopes may inhibit erythrocyte invasion. All the epitopes we predicted in EBA175-RII and Rh5 are novel. We also identified polymorphic epitopes that may escape host immunity, as some variants were not predicted as epitopes, suggesting that they may not be immunogenic regions. We present a set of epitopes that following in vitro validation provide a set of molecules to screen as potential vaccine candidates.

Cite

CITATION STYLE

APA

Wamae, K. K., & Ochola-Oyier, L. I. (2016). Implications from predicted B-cell and T-cell epitopes of Plasmodium falciparum merozoite proteins EBA175-RII and Rh5. Bioinformation, 12(3), 82–91. https://doi.org/10.6026/97320630012082

Register to see more suggestions

Mendeley helps you to discover research relevant for your work.

Already have an account?

Save time finding and organizing research with Mendeley

Sign up for free