Expression, purification and immunological analysis of p. berghei MTRAP

• Grant number: 16/16649-4
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Master
• Start date: April 01, 2017
• End date: March 31, 2019
• Field of knowledge: Biological Sciences - Parasitology - Protozoology of Parasites
• Agreement: Coordination of Improvement of Higher Education Personnel (CAPES)
• Principal Investigator: Daniel Youssef Bargieri
• Grantee: Xiomara Alexandra Gaitán
• Host Institution: Instituto de Ciências Biomédicas (ICB). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). São Paulo , SP, Brazil
• Associated research grant: 13/13119-6 - Cell biology and molecular genetics of hemoparasites, AP.JP

Abstract

Malaria is a preventable, diagnosable and treatable disease. Yet, the disease causes thousands of deaths every year, and millions of people are still endangered. Almost all malaria cases worldwide are due to infection with Plasmodium vivax or P. falciparum. There is an urgent need to eliminate malaria, since drug resistance is reappearing, and there seems to be a general agreement that elimination is not simply a matter of intensifying the use of available tools. New strategies, like efficient vaccines, will be required.Developing a malaria vaccine is one of the greatest challenges in biomedical sciences. The limited knowledge of essential antigens and their function during the Plasmodium life cycle, antigen polymorphism, and parasite capacity of adaptation are among the main hurdles for vaccine development. In fact, only few Plasmodium antigens have entered vaccine clinical trials, and so far only one has reached phase III clinical trial.Recently we identified a new Plasmodium antigen, MTRAP, involved in the transmission of the parasite from mammals to the mosquito vector. Proteins that play a role at this step of the parasite life cycle are less polymorphic, because are under lower selective pressure from the vertebrate host immunological response, and can serve as antigen targets for vaccines that block parasite transmission.This project aims at studying the immunological properties of MTRAP from the mouse malaria model P. berghei, including: immunogenicity in animal models, capacity of anti-MTRAP antibodies to block parasite transmission to mosquitoes. (AU)

Scientific publications

(References retrieved automatically from Web of Science and SciELO through information on FAPESP grants and their corresponding numbers as mentioned in the publications by the authors)

CALIT, JULIANA; DOBRESCU, IRINA; GAITAN, XIOMARA A.; BORGES, MIRIAM H.; RAMOS, MARISE S.; EASTMAN, RICHARD T.; BARGIERI, DANIEL Y.. Screening the Pathogen Box for Molecules Active against Plasmodium Sexual Stages Using a New Nanoluciferase-Based Transgenic Line of P-berghei Identifies Transmission-Blocking Compounds. Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy, v. 62, n. 11, NOV 2018. (14/23083-1, 13/13119-6, 16/16649-4)

LIMA, MARILIA N. N.; MELO-FILHO, CLEBER C.; CASSIANO, GUSTAVO C.; NEVES, BRUNO J.; ALVES, VINICIUS M.; BRAGA, RODOLPHO C.; CRAVO, PEDRO V. L.; MURATOV, EUGENE N.; CALIT, JULIANA; BARGIERI, DANIEL Y.; et al. QSAR-Driven Design and Discovery of Novel Compounds With Antiplasmodial and Transmission Blocking Activities. FRONTIERS IN PHARMACOLOGY, v. 9, MAR 6 2018. (12/16525-2, 13/13119-6, 17/02353-9, 15/20774-6, 16/16649-4)

Academic Publications

(References retrieved automatically from State of São Paulo Research Institutions)

GAITÁN, Xiomara Alexandra. Characterization of the Plasmodium berghei MTRAP protein as a transmission blocking antigen.. 2019. Master's Dissertation - Universidade de São Paulo (USP). Instituto de Ciências Biomédicas (ICB/SDI) São Paulo.