Multimerization of PyCSP for Novel Malaria Vaccine Antigens

Abstract

Current experimental vaccines against malaria have demonstrated a limited capacity to elicit a durable protective immune response capable of diminishing infection and transmission in endemic regions. The use of virus-like particles to produce multimerized vaccine antigens is a promising approach for improving the quality and durability of vaccine-elicited immune responses against several pathogens, including in experimental vaccines for malaria. The Sather lab has studied various malaria antigens and their interactions with various antibodies, with a goal of identifying a vaccine target that will elicit antibodies capable of providing patients with protective immunity against malaria. This study will focus on constructing and testing the immunogenicity and efficacy of multimerization strategies of the circumsporozoite (CSP) protein against a recombinant CSP monomeric antigen. Antigen constructs encoding for antigens of increasing valency were designed and evaluated in vitro and in vivo and anti-vaccine serum antibody responses were assessed for antibody binding titers, binding avidity, and antibody subclass distribution.