Enhanced antibody responses to Plasmodium falciparum Pfs28 induced in mice by conjugation to ExoProtein A of Pseudomonas aeruginosa with an improved procedure

Microbes Infect. 2009 Mar;11(3):408-12. doi: 10.1016/j.micinf.2008.12.009. Epub 2008 Dec 27.

Abstract

In this paper we report our efforts to enhance the immunogenicity of Pfs28, a transmission blocking vaccine candidate of Plasmodium falciparum, using a strategy of chemical conjugation. With an improved procedure, Pfs28 was covalently coupled to the mutant and non-toxic ExoProtein A of Pseudomonas aeruginosa by the reaction between thiolated antigen and maleimide modified carrier protein. The optimized process resulted in a higher antigen-carrier conjugation ratio, and the conjugation product could be purified using single-step size-exclusion chromatography. A significant increase in immunogenicity measured by ELISA was observed in mice immunized with conjugated Pfs28 as compared to unconjugated Pfs28.

Publication types

  • Research Support, N.I.H., Intramural

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Antibodies, Protozoan / blood
  • Antigens, Protozoan / immunology*
  • Bacterial Proteins / immunology*
  • Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay
  • Malaria Vaccines / immunology*
  • Mice
  • Plasmodium falciparum / immunology*
  • Pseudomonas aeruginosa / immunology*
  • Vaccines, Conjugate / immunology

Substances

  • Antibodies, Protozoan
  • Antigens, Protozoan
  • Bacterial Proteins
  • Malaria Vaccines
  • Vaccines, Conjugate