Evaluation of the antigenic potential of the antimalarial vaccine candidate GMZ2.6c and its components (MSP-3, GLURP and Pfs48/45) in populations currently immunized by chronic exposure residing in malaria endemic areas

Estimates point to the occurrence of 219 million cases of malaria and more than 435,000 deaths per year, with the absolute majority of deaths caused by Plasmodium falciparum. Although P. falciparum is proportionally responsible for a smaller number of cases, infection by this species is worrying in Brazil, especially after the recent description of isolates with reduced efficacy to artemisinin derivatives in Suriname and French Guiana, warning of the risk of the emergence and introduction of resistance in Brazil. An effective vaccine is possibly the most potent weapon to reduce the huge impact that malaria has on the global public health scenario. GMZ2.6c is a recombinant protein that contains fragments of 3 candidate antigens for vaccine against P. falciparum: MSP-3, GLURP and Pfs48/45. These antigens were selected as vaccine candidates based on a rationale that used several parameters. Most of the criteria corresponded to those commonly used for vaccine candidate antigens, such as immunogenicity under natural exposure conditions, the correlation of antigen-specific antibody titers with the different degrees of clinical protection of individuals living in an endemic area, and the functional role of Specific antibodies inhibit in vitro growth of P. falciparum or fertilization in the mosquito vector, female Anopheles mosquitoes. Previous studies carried out in our laboratory have shown that GMZ2.6c is widely recognized by antibodies from individuals residing in Brazilian endemic malaria areas and that its components (MSP-3, GLURP and Pfs48/45) are immunogenic in natural infection by P. falciparum. However, 25% of the population studied did not have antibodies that recognized GMZ2.6c.

Project details

Genetics and Genomics
Vaccines (Immune Correlates)

Feb 2023

Brazil