Immunogenicity of the Plasmodium falciparum glutamate-rich protein expressed by vaccinia virus.
The glurp gene of Plasmodium falciparum F32 has been inserted into a vaccinia virus, and the recombinant virus was designated VVG4. Expression of glurp in VVG4-infected Vero cells was analyzed by immunoprecipitation and revealed a primary GLURP product of approximately 220,000 Da; GLURP was detected both intracellularly and in culture supernatants. To study the immunogenicity of vaccinia virus-expressed GLURP, mice were immunized with VVG4 and serum samples were analyzed for antibody reactivity with three polypeptides, covering almost the entire GLURP molecule; these three polypeptides were produced in recombinant form in Escherichia coli. The immune response was primarily directed against a carboxy-terminal repeat region. The mouse anti-GLURP serum recognized authentic GLURP by immunoprecipitation analysis from P. falciparum grown in vitro. These results demonstrate that vaccinia virus-expressed glurp product can induce a humoral immune response against GLURP derived from blood-stage parasites.
Department of Infection-Immunology, Statens Seruminstitut, Copenhagen, Denmark.
M
M
Theisen
G
G
Cox
B
B
Høgh
S
S
Jepsen
J
J
Vuust
D000818:Animals; D001483:Base Sequence; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D017780:Malaria Vaccines / Q000276:immunology*; D051379:Mice; D008807:Mice, Inbred BALB C; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D008970:Molecular Weight; D010963:Plasmodium falciparum / Q000276:immunology*; D015800:Protozoan Proteins / Q000096:biosynthesis / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology*; D016052:Protozoan Vaccines; D014614:Vaccines, Synthetic / Q000276:immunology*; D014616:Vaccinia virus / Q000235:genetics*
D017780:Malaria Vaccines; D015800:Protozoan Proteins; D016052:Protozoan Vaccines; D014614:Vaccines, Synthetic; C072492:glutamate-rich protein, Plasmodium