Open AccessNovel malaria antigen Plasmodium yoelii E140 induces antibody-mediated sterile protection in mice against malaria challenge
Author(s) -
Emily C. Smith,
Keith Limbach,
nipha Rangel,
Kyosuke Oda,
Jessica S. Bolton,
Mingde Du,
Kalpana Gowda,
Jianyang Wang,
J. Kathleen Moch,
Sharvari Sonawane,
Rachel Velasco,
Arnel Belmonte,
Rebecca Danner,
Joanne M. Lumsden,
Noelle B. Patterson,
Martha Sedegah,
Michael R. Hollingdale,
Thomas L. Richie,
John B. Sacci,
Eileen Villasante,
João C. Aguiar
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
plos one
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.99
H-Index - 332
ISSN - 1932-6203
DOI - 10.1371/journal.pone.0232234
Subject(s) - plasmodium yoelii , malaria , virology , antigen , biology , plasmodium falciparum , immunization , malaria vaccine , immunology , antibody , plasmodium (life cycle) , parasite hosting , parasitemia , world wide web , computer science
Only a small fraction of the antigens expressed by malaria parasites have been evaluated as vaccine candidates. A successful malaria subunit vaccine will likely require multiple antigenic targets to achieve broad protection with high protective efficacy. Here we describe protective efficacy of a novel antigen, Plasmodium yoelii (Py) E140 (PyE140), evaluated against P . yoelii challenge of mice. Vaccines targeting PyE140 reproducibly induced up to 100% sterile protection in both inbred and outbred murine challenge models. Although PyE140 immunization induced high frequency and multifunctional CD8 + T cell responses, as well as CD4 + T cell responses, protection was mediated by PyE140 antibodies acting against blood stage parasites. Protection in mice was long-lasting with up to 100% sterile protection at twelve weeks post-immunization and durable high titer anti-PyE140 antibodies. The E140 antigen is expressed in all Plasmodium species, is highly conserved in both P . falciparum lab-adapted strains and endemic circulating parasites, and is thus a promising lead vaccine candidate for future evaluation against human malaria parasite species.