title: Expression and Evaluation of Recombinant Plasmodium knowlesi Merozoite Surface Protein-3 (MSP-3) for Detection of Human Malaria.
abstract: Malaria remains a major health threat in many parts of the globe and causes high mortality and morbidity with 214 million cases of malaria occurring globally in 2015. Recent studies have outlined potential diagnostic markers and vaccine candidates one of which is the merozoite surface protein (MSP)-3. In this study, novel recombinant Plasmodium knowlesi MSP-3 was cloned, expressed and purified in an Escherichia coli system. Subsequently, the recombinant protein was evaluated for its sensitivity and specificity. The recombinant pkMSP-3 protein reacted with sera from patients with P. knowlesi infection in both Western blot (61%) and ELISA (100%). Specificity-wise, pkMSP-3 did not react with healthy donor sera in either assay and only reacted with a few non-malarial parasitic patient sera in the ELISA assay (3 of 49). In conclusion, sensitivity and specificity of pkMSP-3 was found to be high in the ELISA and Western Blot assay and thus utilising both assays in tandem would provide the best sero-diagnostic result for P. knowlesi infection.
authors.affiliation: Department of Parasitology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Malaya, 50603 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
authors.forename: Jeremy Ryan
authors.initials: JR
authors.lastname: De Silva
authors.affiliation: Department of Parasitology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Malaya, 50603 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.|Tropical Disease Research and Education Centre, Faculty of Medicine, University of Malaya, 50603 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
authors.forename: Yee-Ling
authors.initials: YL
authors.lastname: Lau
authors.affiliation: Department of Parasitology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Malaya, 50603 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.|Tropical Disease Research and Education Centre, Faculty of Medicine, University of Malaya, 50603 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
authors.forename: Mun-Yik
authors.initials: MY
authors.lastname: Fong
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000953:Antigens, Protozoan / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology*; D015153:Blotting, Western / Q000379:methods; D004926:Escherichia coli / Q000235:genetics; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008288:Malaria / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology*; D008297:Male; D016790:Plasmodium knowlesi / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology*; D015800:Protozoan Proteins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology*; D011994:Recombinant Proteins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology
chemical_list: D000953:Antigens, Protozoan; D015800:Protozoan Proteins; D011994:Recombinant Proteins; C089133:merozoite surface protein 3, Plasmodium