A Plant-Produced in vivo deglycosylated full-length Pfs48/45 as a Transmission-Blocking Vaccine Candidate against malaria

Abstract Pfs48/45 is a leading antigen candidate for a transmission blocking (TB) vaccine. However, efforts to produce affordable, safe and correctly folded full-length Pfs48/45 using different protein expression systems have not produced an antigen with satisfactory TB activity. Pfs48/45 has 16 cys...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Tarlan Mamedov, Kader Cicek, Kazutoyo Miura, Burcu Gulec, Ersin Akinci, Gunay Mammadova, Gulnara Hasanova
Format: article
Language:EN
Published: Nature Portfolio 2019
Subjects:
R
Q
Online Access:https://doaj.org/article/22aae6d0416149a0812a6da6f778735d
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Summary:Abstract Pfs48/45 is a leading antigen candidate for a transmission blocking (TB) vaccine. However, efforts to produce affordable, safe and correctly folded full-length Pfs48/45 using different protein expression systems have not produced an antigen with satisfactory TB activity. Pfs48/45 has 16 cysteines involved in disulfide bond formation, and the correct formation is critical for proper folding and induction of TB antibodies. Moreover, Pfs48⁄45 is not a glycoprotein in the native hosts, but contains potential glycosylation sites, which are aberrantly glycosylated during expression in eukaryotic systems. Here, we demonstrate for the first time that full length, Endo H in vivo enzymatic deglycosylated Pfs48/45 antigen is produced at a high level in plants and is structurally stable at elevated temperatures. Sera from mice immunized with this antigen showed strong inhibition in SMFA. Thus, Endo H in vivo enzymatic deglycosylated Pfs48/45 is a promising candidate for the development of an affordable TB vaccine, which may have the potential to save millions.