Evaluation of the antigenicity of universal epitopes from PvDBPII in individuals exposed to Plasmodium vivax malaria

Plasmodium vivax Pv12 B-cell epitopes and HLA-DRβ1*-dependent T-cell epitopes in vitro antigenicity

Malaria is an infectious disease caused by parasites from the genus Plasmodium (P. falciparum and P. vivax are responsible for 90% of all clinical cases); it is widely distributed throughout the world’s tropical and subtropical regions. The P. vivax Pv12 protein is involved in invasion, is expressed on merozoite surface and has been recognised by antibodies from individuals exposed to the disease. In this study, B- and T-cell epitopes from Pv12 were predicted and characterised to advance in the design of a peptide-based vaccine against malaria.

For evaluating the humoral response of individuals exposed to natural P. vivax infection from two endemic areas in Colombia, BepiPred-1.0 software was used for selecting B-cell epitopes. B-cell epitope 39038 displayed the greatest recognition by naturally-acquired antibodies and induced an IgG2/IgG4 response. NetMHCIIpan-3.1 prediction software was used for selecting peptides having high affinity binding for HLA-DRβ1* allele lineages and this was confirmed by in-vitro binding assays. T-epitopes 39113 and 39117 triggered a memory T-cell response (Stimulation Index≥2) and significant cytokine production.

Combining in-silico, in-vitro and functional assays, two Pv12 protein regions (containing peptides 39038, 39040, 39113 and 39117) have thus been characterised as promising vaccine candidates against P. vivax malaria.

What Is Known about the Immune Response Induced by Plasmodium vivax Malaria Vaccine Candidates?

Malaria caused by Plasmodium vivax continues being one of the most important infectious diseases around the world; P. vivax is the second most prevalent species and has the greatest geographic distribution. Developing an effective antimalarial vaccine is considered a relevant control strategy in the search for means of preventing the disease. Studying parasite-expressed proteins, which are essential in host cell invasion, has led to identifying the regions recognized by individuals who are naturally exposed to infection. Furthermore, immunogenicity studies have revealed that such regions can trigger a robust immune response that can inhibit sporozoite (hepatic stage) or merozoite (erythrocyte stage) invasion of a host cell and induce protection. This review provides a synthesis of the most important studies to date concerning the antigenicity and immunogenicity of both synthetic peptide and recombinant protein candidates for a vaccine against malaria produced by P. vivax.

Major Histocompatibility Complex and Malaria: Focus on Plasmodium vivax Infection

The importance of host and parasite genetic factors in malaria resistance or susceptibility has been investigated since the middle of the last century. Nowadays, of all diseases that affect man, malaria still plays one of the highest levels of selective pressure on human genome. Susceptibility to malaria depends on exposure profile, epidemiological characteristics, and several components of the innate and adaptive immune system that influences the quality of the immune response generated during the Plasmodium lifecycle in the vertebrate host. But it is well known that the parasite's enormous capacity of genetic variation in conjunction with the host genetics polymorphism is also associated with a wide spectrum of susceptibility degrees to complicated or severe forms of the disease. In this scenario, variations in genes of the major histocompatibility complex (MHC) associated with host resistance or susceptibility to malaria have been identified and used as markers in host-pathogen interaction studies, mainly those evaluating the impact on the immune response, acquisition of resistance, or increased susceptibility to infection or vulnerability to disease. However, due to the intense selective pressure, number of cases, and mortality rates, the majority of the reported associations reported concerned Plasmodium falciparum malaria. Studies on the MHC polymorphism and its association with Plasmodium vivax, which is the most widespread Plasmodium and the most prevalent species outside the African continent, are less frequent but equally important. Despite punctual contributions, there are accumulated evidences of human genetic control in P. vivax infection and disease. Herein, we review the current knowledge in the field of MHC and derived molecules (HLA Class I, Class II, TNF-α, LTA, BAT1, and CTL4) regarding P. vivax malaria. We discuss particularly the results of P. vivax studies on HLA class I and II polymorphisms in relation to host susceptibility, naturally acquired immune response against specific antigens and the implication of this knowledge to overcome the parasite immune evasion. Finally, the potential impact of such polymorphisms on the development of vaccine candidate antigens against P. vivax will be studied.

Genetic diversity and population structure of genes encoding vaccine candidate antigens of Plasmodium vivax

Background

A major concern in malaria vaccine development is genetic polymorphisms typically observed among Plasmodium isolates in different geographical areas across the world. Highly polymorphic regions have been observed in Plasmodium falciparum and Plasmodium vivax antigenic surface proteins such as Circumsporozoite protein (CSP), Duffy-binding protein (DBP), Merozoite surface protein-1 (MSP-1), Apical membrane antigen-1 (AMA-1) and Thrombospondin related anonymous protein (TRAP).

Methods

Genetic variability was assessed in important polymorphic regions of various vaccine candidate antigens in P. vivax among 106 isolates from the Amazon Region of Loreto, Peru. In addition, genetic diversity determined in Peruvian isolates was compared to population studies from various geographical locations worldwide.

Results

The structured diversity found in P. vivax populations did not show a geographic pattern and haplotypes from all gene candidates were distributed worldwide. In addition, evidence of balancing selection was found in polymorphic regions of the trap, dbp and ama-1 genes.

Conclusions

It is important to have a good representation of the haplotypes circulating worldwide when implementing a vaccine, regardless of the geographic region of deployment since selective pressure plays an important role in structuring antigen diversity.