Identification of antigenically active tryptic fragments of apical membrane antigen-1 (AMA1) of Plasmodium chabaudi malaria: Strategies for assembly of immunologically active peptides

Abstract

Apical membrane antigen-1 (AMA1) is a prime vaccine candidate for inclusion in a vaccine against malaria. It is known that the disulphide bond stabilised conformation of this antigen is important for eliciting a protective antibody response, however little is known about the epitopes within this molecule that are targeted by the immune response. We have used a peptide approach for the identification and characterisation of such regions. In this study, the in vitro refolded, recombinant ectodomain of AMA1 from the D strain of Plasmodium chabaudi adami, was digested with trypsin and individual peptide fragments examined for antigenic activity. We found that a tryptic fragment, which was derive..