Evaluation of the immunogenicity and cross-reactivity of the PBANKA_1038800 protein from Plasmodium berghei and its orthologs in P. vivax and P. falciparum

• Grant number: 21/15180-0
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: April 01, 2022
• End date: December 31, 2022
• Field of knowledge: Biological Sciences - Parasitology - Protozoology of Parasites
• Principal Investigator: Daniel Youssef Bargieri
• Grantee: Vitor Antunes da Silva
• Host Institution: Instituto de Ciências Biomédicas (ICB). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). São Paulo , SP, Brazil

Abstract

Malaria is a parasitic disease that has afflicted humankind for centuries, and even today it causes thousands of deaths annually, especially in underdeveloped countries - with an economically fragile population and limited access to health services. Although treatable, the continued emergence of strains of Plasmodium resistant to available antimalarials is of concern. It is also equally alarming that in decades of scientific research looking for vaccines against this disease, little has actually been advanced, with the only vaccine recently made available - the RTS,S - exhibiting an efficacy rate below 40% and protection limited by the species and strain of the protozoan. Considering this general framework, the strategy for developing vaccines to block the transmission of malaria is an innovative alternative, supported by theoretical biological coherence and concrete epidemiological evidence. As part of a research line that evaluate the proteins of this pathogen as potential vaccine antigens for inhibiting transmission, this project seeks to assess the immunogenicity and occurrence of cross-reactivity of the protein PBANKA_1038800, from Plasmodium berghei, and its orthologs in P. vivax (PVX_086272) and P. falciparum (PF3D7_1403200). To achieve this goal, BALB/C mice will be immunized with the recombinant proteins and Poly(I:C) or AS03 adjuvant, followed by indirect Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). (AU)