Identification of a Potentially Protective T Cell Epitope on the Plasmodium Falciparum CS Protein.

摘要

We studied the lymphocyte proliferative responses to peptides derived from the Plasmodium falciparum circumsporozoite (CS) protein in 28 adult Kenyans to identify vaccine relevant T cell eptiopes. Eight of 10 peptides, 6 of which were not overlapping, induced proliferation of lymphocytes from one to 5 volunteers, suggesting genetic restriction of the response to each of the T epitopes on the CS protein or hierarchial dominance of other T sites on sporozoites. Antibody levels to the repeat region were significantly higher among the 11 individuals who responded to at least one peptide, indicating that non-repeat epitopes may provide help for production of antibodies to the repeats. The volunteers were treated for malaria and followed for 126 days. Keywords: Vaccines; Malaria; Reprints. (KT)