Two 20-Residue-Long Peptides Derived from <i>Plasmodium vivax</i> Merozoite Surface Protein 10 EGF-Like Domains Are Involved in Binding to Human Reticulocytes
<i>Plasmodium</i> parasites’ invasion of their target cells is a complex, multi-step process involving many protein-protein interactions. Little is known about how complex the interaction with target cells is in <i>Plasmodium vivax</i> and few surface molecules related to ret...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
MDPI AG
2021-02-01
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| Series: | International Journal of Molecular Sciences |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/1422-0067/22/4/1609 |
| Summary: | <i>Plasmodium</i> parasites’ invasion of their target cells is a complex, multi-step process involving many protein-protein interactions. Little is known about how complex the interaction with target cells is in <i>Plasmodium vivax</i> and few surface molecules related to reticulocytes’ adhesion have been described to date. Natural selection, functional and structural analysis were carried out on the previously described vaccine candidate <i>P. vivax</i> merozoite surface protein 10 (<i>Pv</i>MSP10) for evaluating its role during initial contact with target cells. It has been shown here that the recombinant carboxyl terminal region (r<i>Pv</i>MSP10-C) bound to adult human reticulocytes but not to normocytes, as validated by two different protein-cell interaction assays. Particularly interesting was the fact that two 20-residue-long regions (<sup>388</sup>DKEECRCRANYMPDDSVDYF<sup>407</sup> and <sup>415</sup>KDCSKENGNCDVNAECSIDK<sup>434</sup>) were able to inhibit r<i>Pv</i>MSP10-C binding to reticulocytes and rosette formation using enriched target cells. These peptides were derived from <i>Pv</i>MSP10 epidermal growth factor (EGF)-like domains (precisely, from a well-defined electrostatic zone) and consisted of regions having the potential of being B- or T-cell epitopes. These findings provide evidence, for the first time, about the fragments governing <i>Pv</i>MSP10 binding to its target cells, thus highlighting the importance of studying them for inclusion in a <i>P. vivax</i> antimalarial vaccine. |
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| ISSN: | 1661-6596 1422-0067 |