Fundación Instituto de Inmunología de Colombia (FIDIC), Carrera 50 No. 26-20, Bogotá, Colombia.
Protist. 2013 Jan;164(1):37-48. doi: 10.1016/j.protis.2012.03.001. Epub 2012 May 2.
Plasmodium vivax malaria remains one of the tropical diseases causing an enormous burden on global public health. Several proteins located on this parasite species' merozoite surface have been considered the most suitable antigens for being included in an anti-malarial vaccine, given the functional role they play during the parasite's interaction with red blood cells. The present study identifies and characterizes the P. vivax Pv12 surface protein which was evaluated by using molecular biology and immunochemistry assays; its antigenic potential was also examined in natural and experimental P. vivax malaria infections. The P. vivax VCG-1 strain Pv12 gene encodes a 362 amino acid-long protein exhibiting a signal peptide, a glycosylphosphatidylinositol (GPI) anchor sequence and two 6-Cys domains. The presence of the Pv12 protein on the parasite's surface and its association with detergent-resistant membrane complexes, together with its antigenic potential, supports the notion that this antigen could play an important role as a red blood cell binding ligand. Further studies aimed at establishing the immunogenicity and protection-inducing ability of the Pv12 protein or its products in the Aotus experimental model are thus suggested.
间日疟原虫仍然是热带病之一，给全球公共卫生带来了巨大负担。这种寄生虫的裂殖子表面的几种蛋白质被认为是最适合包含在抗疟疫苗中的抗原，因为它们在寄生虫与红细胞相互作用过程中发挥了功能作用。本研究鉴定和描述了 P. vivax Pv12 表面蛋白，通过分子生物学和免疫化学检测方法对其进行了评估；还在自然和实验性 P. vivax 疟疾感染中检查了其抗原潜力。PVCG-1 株 Pv12 基因编码一个 362 个氨基酸长的蛋白，具有信号肽、糖基磷脂酰肌醇 (GPI) 锚序列和两个 6-Cys 结构域。该蛋白存在于寄生虫表面，并与去污剂抗性膜复合物相关，同时具有抗原性，这表明该抗原可能作为红细胞结合配体发挥重要作用。因此，建议在 Aotus 实验模型中进一步研究 Pv12 蛋白或其产物的免疫原性和诱导保护能力。
