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Several immunodominant B-cell epitopes of the P. falciparum antigen blood stage Pf155/RESA, a major vaccine candidate antigen, are located in the molecular regions containing amino acid repeats. We started to map Pf155/RESA for T cell reactive epitopes. For this purpose, short synthetic peptides corresponding to the 3'- and 5' repeat regions of the molecule as well as to non-repeated sequences outside these regions were prepared. T cells from P. falciparum primed donors from two highly endemic areas of Africa were tested for their responsiveness to the peptides by thymidine incorporation and/or interferon gamma (IFN-gamma) release. There was a considerable variation in the response to the different peptides. However, the strongest and most frequent responses were seen with a few peptides from the 3'- and 5'-repeat regions. Thus, the immunodominant B cell epitope regions of Pf155/RESA, contain several T cell epitopes. Since the repeat regions are known to be conserved in different P. falciparum strains, the T cell epitopes reported here may be suitable constituents of a P. falciparum subunit vaccine.

Type

Journal article

Journal

Immunol Lett

Publication Date

11/1988

Volume

19

Pages

229 - 233

Keywords

Animals, Antigens, Protozoan, Humans, Immune Tolerance, Peptide Fragments, Plasmodium falciparum, T-Lymphocytes, Vaccines, Synthetic