Brown A E, Webster H K, Gordon D M, Permpanich B, Gross M
Armed Forces Research Institute for Medical Sciences, Bangkok, Thailand.
Am J Trop Med Hyg. 1992 Oct;47(4):440-5. doi: 10.4269/ajtmh.1992.47.440.
Antibody responses to the circumsporozoite (CS) protein of Plasmodium falciparum have previously been reported against the central repeating tetrapeptides of this protein. Segments of the protein flanking the repeat region also contain B-cell epitopes, but specific antibody responses have not been previously characterized. Longitudinal serum sets from 16 Thai adults who developed acute falciparum malaria were selected to represent a spectrum of antibody response to the repeat region (R32). These sera were assayed by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay using as capture antigen a recombinant fusion protein, NS1(81)RLF, which contains both flanking regions, but lacks the NANP and NVDP repeats of the P. falciparum CS protein. Antibody responses to the repeatless flanking (RLF) regions were observed in all subjects, including five individuals who lacked detectable anti-R32 antibody responses. Anti-RLF antibody responses induced by natural infection appear to be short-lived and of low-to-moderate magnitude. Thus, if anti-RLF antibodies prove to be protective, derived vaccine candidates may require presentation of these epitopes with adjuvants or delivery systems that enhance immunogenicity.
此前已有报道称，针对恶性疟原虫环子孢子蛋白（CS蛋白）的抗体反应是针对该蛋白的中央重复四肽的。重复区域两侧的蛋白片段也包含B细胞表位，但此前尚未对特异性抗体反应进行表征。从16名患急性恶性疟的泰国成年人中选取了纵向血清样本，以代表针对重复区域（R32）的一系列抗体反应。这些血清通过酶联免疫吸附测定法进行检测，使用的捕获抗原是一种重组融合蛋白NS1(81)RLF，它包含两侧区域，但缺少恶性疟原虫CS蛋白的NANP和NVDP重复序列。在所有受试者中均观察到针对无重复侧翼（RLF）区域的抗体反应，包括5名未检测到抗R32抗体反应的个体。自然感染诱导的抗RLF抗体反应似乎持续时间较短，强度为低至中等。因此，如果抗RLF抗体被证明具有保护作用，那么衍生的候选疫苗可能需要使用佐剂或增强免疫原性的递送系统来呈现这些表位。
