J. Biol. Chem., Vol. 262, Issue 14, 6464-6467, May, 1987
Evolution of the immunodominant domain of the circumsporozoite protein gene from Plasmodium vivax. Implications for vaccines
VF de la Cruz, AA Lal, JA Welsh and TF McCutchan
Recent work directed toward the development of a malarial vaccine has
focused on the identification and production of the immunodominant
repeating peptide of the circumsporozoite protein of the human malaria
parasites as an antigen. An important factor which relates to the
usefulness of this antigen in a vaccine is the rate at which the molecule
changes in sequence. We have determined the sequence and arrangement of the
repeating epitope of the circumsporozoite protein gene from a Plasmodium
vivax isolate from La Paz, El Salvador (Sal-I). This is compared with a
portion of the previously published sequence of the circumsporozoite
protein gene from a P. vivax isolate from Belem, Brazil. The genes appear
to be very similar in the repeat region. There are 20 similar repeating
units in the El Salvador strain and only 19 units are conserved in the
Brazilian strain. Following this there are degenerate repeats in both
strains. Even the pattern of silent mutations in the repeat area are
similar; however, they are not necessarily in the identical location and
appear to have shifted. The data suggest that the repeat region of these
genes may be evolving by an accelerated mechanism(s). Such a phenomenon
could severely decrease the long-term efficacy of a repeat-based
anti-sporozoite vaccine.
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