Journal article
Novel Virus-Like Particle Vaccine Encoding the Circumsporozoite Protein of Plasmodium falciparum Is Immunogenic and Induces Functional Antibody Responses in Mice
L Kurtovic, D Wetzel, L Reiling, DR Drew, C Palmer, B Kouskousis, E Hanssen, BD Wines, PM Hogarth, M Suckow, V Jenzelewski, M Piontek, JA Chan, JG Beeson
Frontiers in Immunology | FRONTIERS MEDIA SA | Published : 2021
Abstract
RTS,S is the leading malaria vaccine in development, but has demonstrated only moderate protective efficacy in clinical trials. RTS,S is a virus-like particle (VLP) that uses the human hepatitis B virus as scaffold to display the malaria sporozoite antigen, circumsporozoite protein (CSP). Particle formation requires four-fold excess scaffold antigen, and as a result, CSP represents only a small portion of the final vaccine construct. Alternative VLP or nanoparticle platforms that reduce the amount of scaffold antigen and increase the amount of the target CSP antigen present in particles may enhance vaccine immunogenicity and efficacy. Here, we describe the production and characterization of ..
View full abstractGrants
Awarded by National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Acknowledgements
This work was funded by the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) of Australia (Senior Research Fellowship, Program Grant, and Investigator Grant to JB), the Australian Government Research Training Program Scholarship to LK, the Jim and Margaret Beever Fellowship (Burnet Institute) to J-AC and project grant (GNT1145303) to PH and BW. Burnet Institute is supported by funding from the NHMRC Independent Research Institutes Infrastructure Support Scheme and a Victorian State Government Operational Infrastructure grant. LK, LR, J-AC, and JB are supported by the NHMRC-funded Australian Centre for Research Excellence on Malaria Elimination.