Download MendeleyStructure-guided design of a PfCyRPA-based vaccine against blood-stage malaria.
Alam, N., Wolfle, C., Butkeviciute, E., Quinkert, D., King, L.D.W., Higgins, M.K.(2026) EMBO Mol Med 18: 873-890
- PubMed: 41772083
- DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s44321-026-00376-x
- Primary Citation Related Structures:
9OSX - PubMed Abstract:
Effective vaccines against malaria are urgently required. All components of the PfPCRCR complex are essential for erythrocyte invasion by Plasmodium falciparum and are potential vaccine immunogens against blood-stage malaria. Of these, PfRH5 has progressed furthest in clinical development, while PfCyRPA also induces parasite growth-inhibitory antibodies. Here, we used direct nanoparticle coupling and structure-guided design to generate improved PfCyRPA-based immunogens. PfCyRPA is a six-bladed β-propeller. Blades 1 and 2 are exposed in the PfPCRCR complex and contain the epitopes of the most potent known growth-inhibitory antibodies. We therefore performed structure-guided design to generate a correctly folded, thermostable epitope mimic, PfCyRPA-EM, containing blades 1 and 2. In a pre-clinical model, PfCyRPA-EM elicited antibodies that inhibited parasite growth at lower concentrations than those elicited by PfCyRPA. In addition, the higher thermostability of PfCyRPA-EM and its improved expression as an I53-50 nanoparticle fusion make it well-suited for clinical development, alone or with other immunogens.
- Department of Biochemistry, Dorothy Crowfoot Hodgkin Building, University of Oxford, South Parks Road, Oxford, OX1 3QU, UK.
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