title: Identification of a common Plasmodium epitope (CPE) recognised by a pan-specific inhibitory monoclonal antibody.
abstract: A Plasmodium falciparum genomic expression library was screened with a monoclonal antibody produced from mice infected with Plasmodium yoelii. Eleven unique clones were isolated all of which contained the sequence NKND, IKND or KKND. This sequence was confirmed as the epitope of M26-32 by testing a series of overlapping peptides and the allowable substitutions determined by testing the binding of M26-32 to peptides containing all possible single amino acid replacements of NKND. Potential epitopes of M26-32 occur in many plasmodial proteins and this is consistent with the large number of proteins recognised in these parasites by Western blotting. Since this monoclonal antibody shows marked in vitro inhibition of P. falciparum growth, these data suggest that an anti-malarial vaccine may be produced by targeting such common plasmodial epitopes without necessarily identifying the corresponding antigens.
authors.affiliation: Queensland Institute of Medical Research, Herston, Brisbane, Australia.
authors.forename: Q
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Cheng
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Jones
authors.forename: E X
authors.initials: EX
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Kidson
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Saul
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D000911:Antibodies, Monoclonal; D000918:Antibody Specificity; D000953:Antigens, Protozoan / Q000235:genetics; D001483:Base Sequence; D016054:DNA, Protozoan / Q000235:genetics; D000939:Epitopes / Q000235:genetics; D008288:Malaria / Q000276:immunology; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D010961:Plasmodium / Q000235:genetics / Q000254:growth & development / Q000276:immunology*; D010963:Plasmodium falciparum / Q000276:immunology; D010967:Plasmodium yoelii / Q000276:immunology; D016052:Protozoan Vaccines / Q000302:isolation & purification
chemical_list: D000911:Antibodies, Monoclonal; D000953:Antigens, Protozoan; D016054:DNA, Protozoan; D000939:Epitopes; D016052:Protozoan Vaccines