title: High-titer antisera production using three adjuvants and peptide conjugates derived from malarial surface antigen MSA-2.
abstract: We have identified a 51-kDa glycosylated myristoylated merozoite surface antigen as the target of a number of monoclonal antibodies that inhibit P. falciparum invasion. This antigen has been shown to exist in a limited number of strain-specific forms, but despite wide variation in the sequences of the internal repeat regions both N- and C-terminal elements of the protein are almost totally conserved. Accordingly, we prepared a large number of overlapping peptide constructs and demonstrated that one peptide, SNTFINNA (E-71), from the N-terminus and two peptides, QHG HMHGS (G-5) and NTSDSQKE (G-12), from the C-terminus were capable, when suitably conjoined to carrier protein diphtheria toxoid, of eliciting antibodies reactive with MSA-2 from diverse strains of P. falciparum. Here we compared the immunogenicity of the peptide constructs when formulated with a Freund's adjuvant, alum and algammulin. Both peptide constructs E-71 and G-5 elicit high-titer antibodies with all three adjuvants when tested by ELISA against the immunogens themselves and by Western blotting of whole parasite extracts from two distinct parasite strains.
authors.affiliation: Queensland Institute of Medical Research, Herston, Australia.
authors.forename: G L
authors.initials: GL
authors.lastname: Jones
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Spencer
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Lord
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Edmundson
authors.forename: A J
authors.initials: AJ
authors.lastname: Saul
mesh_terms: D000276:Adjuvants, Immunologic; D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D000913:Antibodies, Protozoan / Q000096:biosynthesis*; D000953:Antigens, Protozoan / Q000737:chemistry; D000954:Antigens, Surface / Q000737:chemistry; D005260:Female; D051379:Mice; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D010963:Plasmodium falciparum / Q000276:immunology; D015800:Protozoan Proteins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000276:immunology*
chemical_list: D000276:Adjuvants, Immunologic; D000913:Antibodies, Protozoan; D000953:Antigens, Protozoan; D000954:Antigens, Surface; D015800:Protozoan Proteins; C065974:merozoite surface protein 2, Plasmodium