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Weig AR, Löder MGJ, Ramsperger AFRM, Laforsch C. In situ Prokaryotic and Eukaryotic Communities on Microplastic Particles in a Small Headwater Stream in Germany. Front Microbiol 2021; 12:660024. [PMID: 34912303 PMCID: PMC8667586 DOI: 10.3389/fmicb.2021.660024] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/28/2021] [Accepted: 11/04/2021] [Indexed: 01/04/2023] Open
Abstract
The ubiquitous use of plastic products in our daily life is often accompanied by improper disposal. The first interactions of plastics with organisms in the environment occur by overgrowth or biofilm formation on the particle surface, which can facilitate the ingestion by animals. In order to elucidate the colonization of plastic particles by prokaryotic and eukaryotic microorganisms in situ, we investigated microbial communities in biofilms on four different polymer types and on mineral particles in a small headwater stream 500 m downstream of a wastewater treatment plant in Germany. Microplastic and mineral particles were exposed to the free-flowing water for 4 weeks in spring and in summer. The microbial composition of the developing biofilm was analyzed by 16S and 18S amplicon sequencing. Despite the expected seasonal differences in the microbial composition of pro- and eukaryotic communities, we repeatedly observed polymer type-specific differentiation in both seasons. The order of polymer type-specific prokaryotic and eukaryotic community distances calculated by Robust Aitchison principal component analysis (PCA) was the same in spring and summer samples. However, the magnitude of the distance differed considerably between polymer types. Prokaryotic communities on polyethylene particles exhibited the most considerable difference to other particles in summer, while eukaryotic communities on polypropylene particles showed the most considerable difference to other spring samples. The most contributing bacterial taxa to the polyethylene-specific differentiation belong to the Planctomycetales, Saccharimonadales, Bryobacterales, uncultured Acidiomicrobia, and Gemmatimonadales. The most remarkable differences in eukaryotic microorganism abundances could be observed in several distinct groups of Ciliophora (ciliates) and Chlorophytes (green algae). Prediction of community functions from taxonomic abundances revealed differences between spring and summer, and – to a lesser extent – also between polymer types and mineral surfaces. Our results show that different microplastic particles were colonized by different biofilm communities. These findings may be used for advanced experimental designs to investigate the role of microorganisms on the fate of microplastic particles in freshwater ecosystems.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alfons R Weig
- Genomics and Bioinformatics, Bayreuth Center of Ecology and Environmental Research, University of Bayreuth, Bayreuth, Germany
| | - Martin G J Löder
- Animal Ecology, Bayreuth Center of Ecology and Environmental Research, University of Bayreuth, Bayreuth, Germany
| | - Anja F R M Ramsperger
- Animal Ecology, Bayreuth Center of Ecology and Environmental Research, University of Bayreuth, Bayreuth, Germany.,Biological Physics, University of Bayreuth, Bayreuth, Germany
| | - Christian Laforsch
- Animal Ecology, Bayreuth Center of Ecology and Environmental Research, University of Bayreuth, Bayreuth, Germany
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Search for Cry proteins expressed by Bacillus spp. genomes, using hidden Markov model profiles. 3 Biotech 2019; 9:13. [PMID: 30622851 DOI: 10.1007/s13205-018-1533-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/05/2018] [Accepted: 12/14/2018] [Indexed: 12/12/2022] Open
Abstract
This report focuses on a systematic search for Cry proteins in Bacillus spp. other than B. thuringiensis by analyzing reported Bacillus spp. genomes, using conserved sequences from the C-terminal half of reported Cry proteins in hidden Markov model profiles. A high-throughput model based on the use of HMMER and CD-HIT tools was designed, which identified Cry proteins. This model was used on 857 reported Bacillus spp. genomes, where 174 Cry protein sequences were identified, mostly, as expected, in B. thuringiensis genomes but, interestingly, 42 were identified on other species. Despite including 89 species of Bacillus in the HMMER analysis, Cry protein sequences were found only in genomes from species within the B. cereus group. According to the species registered at the NCBI database containing each genome, this group was formed by 18 non-B. thuringiensis strains. However, when sequences in those genomes were analyzed by multilocus sequence typing, the number of non-B. thuringiensis strains increased to 39, indicating that as many as 119 Cry protein sequences were found in four non-B. thuringiensis species. Therefore, dispersion of Cry proteins is much wider and frequent than previously thought, questioning its role in nature.
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Muh F, Ahmed MA, Han JH, Nyunt MH, Lee SK, Lau YL, Kaneko O, Han ET. Cross-species analysis of apical asparagine-rich protein of Plasmodium vivax and Plasmodium knowlesi. Sci Rep 2018; 8:5781. [PMID: 29636493 PMCID: PMC5893618 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-018-23728-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 21] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/17/2017] [Accepted: 03/01/2018] [Indexed: 11/09/2022] Open
Abstract
The Plasmodium falciparum apical asparagine (Asn)-rich protein (AARP) is one of malarial proteins, and it has been studied as a candidate of malaria subunit vaccine. Basic characterization of PvAARP has been performed with a focus on its immunogenicity and localization. In this study, we further analyzed the immunogenicity of PvAARP, focusing on the longevity of the antibody response, cross-species immunity and invasion inhibitory activity by using the primate malaria parasite Plasmodium knowlesi. We found that vivax malaria patient sera retained anti-PvAARP antibodies for at least one year without re-infection. Recombinant PvAARP protein was strongly recognized by knowlesi malaria patients. Antibody raised against the P. vivax and P. knowlesi AARP N-termini reacted with the apical side of the P. knowlesi merozoites and inhibited erythrocyte invasion by P. knowlesi in a concentration-dependent manner, thereby suggesting a cross-species nature of anti-PvAARP antibody against PkAARP. These results can be explained by B cell epitopes predicted in conserved surface-exposed regions of the AARP N-terminus in both species. The long-lived anti-PvAARP antibody response, cross-reactivity, and invasion inhibitory activity of anti-PvAARP support a critical role of AARP during the erythrocyte invasion and suggest that PvAARP induces long-lived cross-species protective immunity against P. vivax and P. knowlesi.
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Affiliation(s)
- Fauzi Muh
- Department of Medical Environmental Biology and Tropical Medicine, School of Medicine, Kangwon National University, Chuncheon, Gangwon-do, Republic of Korea
| | - Md Atique Ahmed
- Department of Medical Environmental Biology and Tropical Medicine, School of Medicine, Kangwon National University, Chuncheon, Gangwon-do, Republic of Korea
| | - Jin-Hee Han
- Department of Medical Environmental Biology and Tropical Medicine, School of Medicine, Kangwon National University, Chuncheon, Gangwon-do, Republic of Korea
| | - Myat Htut Nyunt
- Department of Medical Environmental Biology and Tropical Medicine, School of Medicine, Kangwon National University, Chuncheon, Gangwon-do, Republic of Korea
- Department of Medical Research, Yangon, Myanmar
| | - Seong-Kyun Lee
- Department of Medical Environmental Biology and Tropical Medicine, School of Medicine, Kangwon National University, Chuncheon, Gangwon-do, Republic of Korea
| | - Yee Ling Lau
- Department of Parasitology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
| | - Osamu Kaneko
- Department of Protozoology, Institute of Tropical Medicine (NEKKEN), Nagasaki University, Sakamoto, Nagasaki, Japan
| | - Eun-Taek Han
- Department of Medical Environmental Biology and Tropical Medicine, School of Medicine, Kangwon National University, Chuncheon, Gangwon-do, Republic of Korea.
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Chen JH, Chen SB, Wang Y, Ju C, Zhang T, Xu B, Shen HM, Mo XJ, Molina DM, Eng M, Liang X, Gardner MJ, Wang R, Hu W. An immunomics approach for the analysis of natural antibody responses to Plasmodium vivax infection. MOLECULAR BIOSYSTEMS 2016; 11:2354-63. [PMID: 26091354 DOI: 10.1039/c5mb00330j] [Citation(s) in RCA: 25] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/21/2022]
Abstract
High throughput immunomics is a powerful platform to discover potential targets of host immunity and develop diagnostic tests for infectious diseases. We screened the sera of Plasmodium vivax-exposed individuals to profile the antibody response to blood-stage antigens of P. vivax using a P. vivax protein microarray. A total of 1936 genes encoding the P. vivax proteins were expressed, printed and screened with sera from P. vivax-exposed individuals and normal subjects. Total of 151 (7.8% of the 1936 targets) highly immunoreactive antigens were identified, including five well-characterized antigens of P. vivax (ETRAMP11.2, Pv34, SUB1, RAP2 and MSP4). Among the highly immunoreactive antigens, 5 antigens were predicted as adhesins by MAAP, and 11 antigens were predicted as merozoite invasion-related proteins based on homology with P. falciparum proteins. There are 40 proteins that have serodiagnostic potential for antibody surveillance. These novel Plasmodium antigens identified provide the clues for understanding host immune response to P. vivax infection and the development of antibody surveillance tools.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jun-Hu Chen
- National Institute of Parasitic Diseases, Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Key Laboratory of Parasite and Vector Biology of the Chinese Ministry of Health, WHO Collaborating Center for Malaria, Schistosomiasis and Filariasis, Shanghai 200025, People's Republic of China.
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Han JH, Li J, Wang B, Lee SK, Nyunt MH, Na S, Park JH, Han ET. Identification of Immunodominant B-cell Epitope Regions of Reticulocyte Binding Proteins in Plasmodium vivax by Protein Microarray Based Immunoscreening. THE KOREAN JOURNAL OF PARASITOLOGY 2015; 53:403-11. [PMID: 26323838 PMCID: PMC4566507 DOI: 10.3347/kjp.2015.53.4.403] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/28/2015] [Revised: 07/23/2015] [Accepted: 07/23/2015] [Indexed: 11/23/2022]
Abstract
Plasmodium falciparum can invade all stages of red blood cells, while Plasmodium vivax can invade only reticulocytes. Although many P. vivax proteins have been discovered, their functions are largely unknown. Among them, P. vivax reticulocyte binding proteins (PvRBP1 and PvRBP2) recognize and bind to reticulocytes. Both proteins possess a C-terminal hydrophobic transmembrane domain, which drives adhesion to reticulocytes. PvRBP1 and PvRBP2 are large (> 326 kDa), which hinders identification of the functional domains. In this study, the complete genome information of the P. vivax RBP family was thoroughly analyzed using a prediction server with bioinformatics data to predict B-cell epitope domains. Eleven pvrbp family genes that included 2 pseudogenes and 9 full or partial length genes were selected and used to express recombinant proteins in a wheat germ cell-free system. The expressed proteins were used to evaluate the humoral immune response with vivax malaria patients and healthy individual serum samples by protein microarray. The recombinant fragments of 9 PvRBP proteins were successfully expressed; the soluble proteins ranged in molecular weight from 16 to 34 kDa. Evaluation of the humoral immune response to each recombinant PvRBP protein indicated a high antigenicity, with 38-88% sensitivity and 100% specificity. Of them, N-terminal parts of PvRBP2c (PVX_090325-1) and PvRBP2 like partial A (PVX_090330-1) elicited high antigenicity. In addition, the PvRBP2-like homologue B (PVX_116930) fragment was newly identified as high antigenicity and may be exploited as a potential antigenic candidate among the PvRBP family. The functional activity of the PvRBP family on merozoite invasion remains unknown.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jin-Hee Han
- Department of Medical Environmental Biology and Tropical Medicine, School of Medicine, Kangwon National University, Chuncheon 200-701, Korea
| | - Jian Li
- Department of Medical Environmental Biology and Tropical Medicine, School of Medicine, Kangwon National University, Chuncheon 200-701, Korea.,Department of Parasitology, College of Basic Medicine, Hubei University of Medicine, Shiyan, Hubei 442000, China
| | - Bo Wang
- Department of Medical Environmental Biology and Tropical Medicine, School of Medicine, Kangwon National University, Chuncheon 200-701, Korea.,Department of Clinical Laboratory, The First Affiliated Hospital of Anhui Medical University, Hefei, Anhui, People's Republic of China
| | - Seong-Kyun Lee
- Department of Medical Environmental Biology and Tropical Medicine, School of Medicine, Kangwon National University, Chuncheon 200-701, Korea
| | - Myat Htut Nyunt
- Department of Medical Environmental Biology and Tropical Medicine, School of Medicine, Kangwon National University, Chuncheon 200-701, Korea.,Department of Medical Research, Yangon, Myanmar
| | - Sunghun Na
- Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, School of Medicine, Kangwon National University, Chuncheon 200-701, Korea
| | - Jeong-Hyun Park
- Department of Anatomy, School of Medicine, Kangwon National University, Chuncheon 200-701, Korea
| | - Eun-Taek Han
- Department of Medical Environmental Biology and Tropical Medicine, School of Medicine, Kangwon National University, Chuncheon 200-701, Korea
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Inferring natural selection signals in Plasmodium vivax-encoded proteins having a potential role in merozoite invasion. INFECTION GENETICS AND EVOLUTION 2015; 33:182-8. [PMID: 25943417 DOI: 10.1016/j.meegid.2015.05.001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/05/2015] [Revised: 04/30/2015] [Accepted: 05/02/2015] [Indexed: 10/23/2022]
Abstract
Detecting natural selection signals in Plasmodium parasites antigens might be used for identifying potential new vaccine candidates. Fifty-nine Plasmodium vivax-Sal-I genes encoding proteins having a potential role in invasion were used as query for identifying them in recent P. vivax strain genome sequences and two closely-related Plasmodium species. Several measures of DNA sequence variation were then calculated and selection signatures were detected by using different approaches. Our results may be used for determining which genes expressed during P. vivax merozoite stage could be prioritised for further population genetics or functional studies for designing a P. vivax vaccine which would avoid allele-specific immune responses.
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Moreno-Pérez DA, Dégano R, Ibarrola N, Muro A, Patarroyo MA. Determining the Plasmodium vivax VCG-1 strain blood stage proteome. J Proteomics 2014; 113:268-280. [PMID: 25316051 DOI: 10.1016/j.jprot.2014.10.003] [Citation(s) in RCA: 20] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/12/2014] [Revised: 09/17/2014] [Accepted: 10/02/2014] [Indexed: 01/31/2023]
Abstract
Plasmodium vivax is the second most prevalent parasite species causing malaria in humans living in tropical and subtropical areas throughout the world. There have been few P. vivax proteomic studies to date and they have focused on using clinical isolates, given the technical difficulties concerning how to maintain an in vitro culture of this species. This study was thus focused on identifying the P. vivax VCG-1 strain proteome during its blood lifecycle through LC-MS/MS; this led to identifying 734 proteins, thus increasing the overall number reported for P. vivax to date. Some of them have previously been related to reticulocyte invasion, parasite virulence and growth and others are new molecules possibly playing a functional role during metabolic processes, as predicted by Database for Annotation, Visualization and Integrated Discovery (DAVID) functional analysis. This is the first large-scale proteomic analysis of a P. vivax strain adapted to a non-human primate model showing the parasite protein repertoire during the blood lifecycle. Database searches facilitated the in silico prediction of proteins proposed for evaluation in further experimental assays regarding their potential as pharmacologic targets or as component of a totally efficient vaccine against malaria caused by P. vivax. BIOLOGICAL SIGNIFICANCE P. vivax malaria continues being a public health problem around world. Although considerable progress has been made in understanding genome- and transcriptome-related P. vivax biology, there are few proteome studies, currently representing only 8.5% of the predicted in silico proteome reported in public databases. A high-throughput proteomic assay was used for discovering new P. vivax intra-reticulocyte asexual stage molecules taken from parasites maintained in vivo in a primate model. The methodology avoided the main problem related to standardising an in vitro culture system to obtain enough samples for protein identification and annotation. This study provides a source of potential information contributing towards a basic understanding of P. vivax biology related to parasite proteins which are of significant importance for the malaria research community.
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Affiliation(s)
- D A Moreno-Pérez
- Fundación Instituto de Inmunología de Colombia (FIDIC), Carrera 50 No. 26-20, Bogotá, Colombia; Universidad del Rosario, Calle 63D No. 24-31, Bogotá, Colombia; IBSAL-CIETUS (Instituto de Investigación Biomédica de Salamanca-Centro de Investigación en Enfermedades Tropicales de la Universidad de Salamanca), Facultad de Farmacia, Universidad de Salamanca, Salamanca, Spain.
| | - R Dégano
- Unidad de Proteómica, Centro de Investigación del Cáncer, CSIC-Universidad de Salamanca, Campus Miguel de Unamuno, Salamanca, Spain.
| | - N Ibarrola
- Unidad de Proteómica, Centro de Investigación del Cáncer, CSIC-Universidad de Salamanca, Campus Miguel de Unamuno, Salamanca, Spain.
| | - A Muro
- IBSAL-CIETUS (Instituto de Investigación Biomédica de Salamanca-Centro de Investigación en Enfermedades Tropicales de la Universidad de Salamanca), Facultad de Farmacia, Universidad de Salamanca, Salamanca, Spain.
| | - M A Patarroyo
- Fundación Instituto de Inmunología de Colombia (FIDIC), Carrera 50 No. 26-20, Bogotá, Colombia; Universidad del Rosario, Calle 63D No. 24-31, Bogotá, Colombia.
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Amarasinghe S, Kathriarachchi H, Udagama P. Conserved regions of Plasmodium vivax potential vaccine candidate antigens in Sri Lanka: conscious in silico analysis of prospective conformational epitope regions. ASIAN PAC J TROP MED 2014; 7:832-40. [PMID: 25129470 DOI: 10.1016/s1995-7645(14)60146-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/01/2014] [Revised: 06/20/2014] [Accepted: 08/22/2014] [Indexed: 10/24/2022] Open
Abstract
OBJECTIVES To do mapping and modeling of conformational B cell epitope regions of highly conserved and protective regions of three merozoitecandidate vaccine proteins of Plasmodium vivax (P. vivax), ie. merozoite purface protein-1 (PvMSP-1), apical membrane antigen -1 domain ∏ (PvAMA1-D∏) and region ∏ of the Duffy binding protein (PvDBP∏), and to analyze the immunogenic properties of these predicted epitopes. METHODS 3-D structures of amino acid haplotypes from Sri Lanka (available in GeneBank) of PvMSP-119 (n=27), PvAMA1-D∏ (n=21) and PvDBP∏ (n=33) were modeled. SEPPA, selected as the best online server was used for conformational epitope predictions, while prediction and modeling of protein structure and properties related to immunogenicity was carried out with Geno3D server, SCRATCH Protein Server, NetSurfP Server and standalonesoftware, Genious 5.4.4. RESULTS SEPPA revealed that regions of predicted conformational epitopes formed 4 clusters in PvMSP-I19, and 3 clusters each in PvAMA1-D∏ and PvDBP∏, all of which displayed a high degree of hydrophilicity, contained solvent exposed residues, displayed high probability of antigenicity and showed positive antigenic propensity values, that indicated high degree of immunogenicity. CONCLUSIONS Findings of this study revealed and confirmed that different parts of the sequences of each of the conserved regions of the three selected potential vaccine candidate antigens of P. vivax are important with regard to conformational epitope prediction that warrants further laboratory experimental investigations in in vivo animal models.
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Affiliation(s)
- Shanika Amarasinghe
- Department of Plant Sciences, Faculty of Science, University of Colombo, CumarathungaMunidasaMawatha, Colombo 03, Sri Lanka
| | - Hashendra Kathriarachchi
- Department of Plant Sciences, Faculty of Science, University of Colombo, CumarathungaMunidasaMawatha, Colombo 03, Sri Lanka
| | - Preethi Udagama
- Department of Zoology, Faculty of Science, University of Colombo, CumarathungaMunidasaMawatha, Colombo 03, Sri Lanka.
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Patarroyo MA, Calderón D, Moreno-Pérez DA. Vaccines againstPlasmodium vivax: a research challenge. Expert Rev Vaccines 2014; 11:1249-60. [DOI: 10.1586/erv.12.91] [Citation(s) in RCA: 26] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/30/2022]
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Moreno-Pérez DA, Saldarriaga A, Patarroyo MA. Characterizing PvARP, a novel Plasmodium vivax antigen. Malar J 2013; 12:165. [PMID: 23688042 PMCID: PMC3662610 DOI: 10.1186/1475-2875-12-165] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/28/2013] [Accepted: 05/12/2013] [Indexed: 11/10/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Plasmodium vivax continues to be the most widely distributed malarial parasite species in tropical and sub-tropical areas, causing high morbidity indices around the world. Better understanding of the proteins used by the parasite during the invasion of red blood cells is required to obtain an effective vaccine against this disease. This study describes characterizing the P. vivax asparagine-rich protein (PvARP) and examines its antigenicity in natural infection. METHODS The target gene in the study was selected according to a previous in silico analysis using profile hidden Markov models which identified P. vivax proteins that play a possible role in invasion. Transcription of the arp gene in the P. vivax VCG-1 strain was here evaluated by RT-PCR. Specific human antibodies against PvARP were used to confirm protein expression by Western blot as well as its subcellular localization by immunofluorescence. Recognition of recombinant PvARP by sera from P. vivax-infected individuals was evaluated by ELISA. RESULTS VCG-1 strain PvARP is a 281-residue-long molecule, which is encoded by a single exon and has an N-terminal secretion signal, as well as a tandem repeat region. This protein is expressed in mature schizonts and is located on the surface of merozoites, having an apparent accumulation towards their apical pole. Sera from P. vivax-infected patients recognized the recombinant, thereby suggesting that this protein is targeted by the immune response during infection. CONCLUSIONS This study showed the characterization of PvARP and its antigenicity. Further assays orientated towards evaluating this antigen's functional importance during parasite invasion are being carried out.
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Affiliation(s)
- Darwin A Moreno-Pérez
- Fundación Instituto de Inmunología de Colombia (FIDIC), Carrera 50 No, 26-20, Bogotá, Colombia.
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