Open AccessUse of a recombinant baculovirus product to measure naturally‐acquired human antibodies to disulphide‐constrained epitopes on the P. falciparum merozoite surface protein‐1 (MSP1)
Author(s) -
Blackman M.J.,
Holder A.A.
Publication year - 1993
Publication title -
fems immunology & medical microbiology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 1574-695X
pISSN - 0928-8244
DOI - 10.1111/j.1574-695x.1993.tb00343.x
Subject(s) - biology , epitope , plasmodium falciparum , antibody , antigen , merozoite surface protein , virology , recombinant dna , malaria vaccine , malaria , microbiology and biotechnology , immunology , biochemistry , gene
An enzyme‐linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) has been developed to measure antibody levels in human sera to a candidate vaccine antigen, merozoite surface protein‐1 (MSP1), of the malaria parasite Plasmodium falciparum . To ensure the detection of antibodies reactive with important conformational epitopes, antigens used in the ELISA were obtained from either in vitro parasite cultures, or from a baculovirus expression system in which correct folding of recombinant MSP1‐derived polypeptides has been previously demonstrated. The specificity of the ELISA was confirmed using a novel antibody affinity select method. The assay was used to investigate the pattern of acquisition of anti‐MSP1 antibodies in a cross‐sectional survey of 387 3–8 year old residents of a malaria endemic area of the Gambia. A significant positive correlation between anti‐MSP1 antibody levels and age was evident, though individual responses to two antigens corresponding to two distinct domains of the MSP1 varied widely.