title: Plasmodium falciparum: sporozoite boosting of immunity due to a T-cell epitope on a sporozoite vaccine.
abstract: Plasmodium falciparum: Sporozoite boosting of immunity due to a T-cell epitope on a sporozoite vaccine. Experimental Parasitology 64, 64-70. The impact of a malaria sporozoite vaccine may be enhanced if protective immunity elicited by the vaccine is boosted by natural exposure to sporozoites. For this to occur, a helper T lymphocyte epitope present on the vaccine must be shared by sporozoites. These studies show that T cells from mice immunized with R32tet32, the Plasmodium falciparum sporozoite vaccine candidate, recognize an epitope of less than or equal to 7 amino acids derived from the circumsporozoite protein repeat region of R32tet32, as well as an epitope on the tet32 fusion protein tail of R32tet32. Exposure of R32tet32 immunized animals to P. falciparum sporozoites elicits a significant secondary antibody response which suggests that humans who are immunized and respond to this vaccine may be boosted by field exposure to sporozoite infected mosquitoes.
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000939:Epitopes / Q000276:immunology*; D007114:Immunization; D008213:Lymphocyte Activation; D051379:Mice; D008810:Mice, Inbred C57BL; D010963:Plasmodium falciparum / Q000276:immunology*; D013601:T-Lymphocytes / Q000276:immunology*; D014612:Vaccines / Q000276:immunology*
chemical_list: D000939:Epitopes; D014612:Vaccines