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SERA protein is a leading candidate molecule to be included in an antimalarial vaccine. Conserved high activity binding peptides (HABP) binding to red blood cells (RBC) have been identified in this protein. One of them (6762) localising in the 18-kDa C-terminal fragment was used to induce protective immunity with negative result. Critical RBC binding residues (assessed by glycine-analogue scanning) were replaced by others having the same mass, volume and surface but different polarity, rendering some of them immunogenic as assessed by antibody production against the parasite or its proteins and protection-inducing against challenge with a highly infectious Aotus monkey-adapted Plasmodium falciparum strain. A shift in binding to purified HLA-DR allelic molecules from the same haplotype and in their reading register was found, suggesting that modified molecules had adopted a different (1)H NMR 3D structure allowing a better fit into the MHCII-pept-TCR complex, thereby representing a new mechanism for inducing immune protection.

EBA-175 protein is used as ligand in Plasmodium falciparum binding to erythrocytes. Evidence shows that conserved peptide 1815 from this protein having high red blood cell binding ability plays an important role in the invasion process. This peptide is neither immunogenic nor protective. Residues were substituted by amino acids having similar volume or mass but different polarity in 1815 analogues had to make them fit into HLA-DRbeta1*03 molecules; these were synthesised and inoculated into Aotus monkeys, generating different immunogenic and/or protective immune responses. A shortening in alpha-helix structure was found in the immunogenic and protective ones when their secondary structure was analyzed by NMR to correlate their structure with their immunological properties. This data, together with results from previous studies, suggests that this shortening in high-activity binding peptide (HABP) helical configuration may lead to better fitting into immune system molecules as shown by binding to purified HLA-DRbeta1* molecules rendering them immunogenic and protective and therefore, excellent candidates for consideration as components of a subunit based multi-component synthetic vaccine against malaria.

An anti-malarial vaccine is urgently needed, especially against P. falciparum which causes 2 to 3 million deaths each year, mostly in Sub-Saharan African children. This vaccine should contain molecules from the parasite's different developmental stages due to the parasite's remarkable complexity and genetic variability. The first approach using synthetic peptides from different parasite stage molecules (the SPf66 malaria vaccine) conferred limited protective efficacy in Aotus monkeys and in large field-trials carried out in different parts of the world SPf66 contains red blood cell (RBC) binding merozoite peptides for which immune responses against them are genetically controlled by HLA-DR region. Therefore, a systematic search of conserved high activity binding peptides (HABP) was undertaken aimed at using them as immunogens. However, these peptides were poorly immunogenic and had poor protection-inducing capacity against experimental challenge with a P. falciparum strain highly infective for Aotus monkeys an experimental model with an immune system quite similar to humans. Modifications were thus made to key residues to render them immunogenic and protection-inducing. These native and modified HABPs' three-dimensional structure was determined by (1)H-NMR studies and their ability in forming stable Major Histocompatibility Class II - peptide (MHCII-peptide) complexes was correlated with their ability to bind in vitro to purified HLA-DR beta1* molecules. Our experimental data suggests a correlation between modified HABPs' three-dimensional structure, HLA-DR beta1* binding preferences and their protection-inducing capacity in monkeys. Furthermore, the data presented here indicates that a synthetic peptide vaccine's three-dimensional structural features dictate both HLA-DR beta1* allele binding preference (imposing genetic restriction on the immune response) and on these vaccines' protection-inducing value. Basic knowledge of a parasite's functionally active peptides, their 3D structure and their interaction for forming the MHC II- peptide-TCR complex will thus contribute towards designing fully effective multi-component, multi-stage subunit-based malarial vaccines.

The Plasmodium falciparum acidic-basic repeat antigen represents a potential malarial vaccine candidate. One of this protein's high activity binding peptides, named 2150 ((161)KMNMLKENVDYIQKNQNLFK(180)), is conserved, non-immunogenic, and non-protection-inducing. Analogue peptides whose critical binding residues (in bold) were replaced by amino-acids having similar mass but different charge were synthesized and tested to try to modify such immunological properties. These analogues' HLA-DRbeta1* molecule binding ability were also studied in an attempt to explain their biological mechanisms and correlate binding capacity and immunological function with their three-dimensional structure determined by (1)H NMR. A 3(10) distorted helical structure was identified in protective and immunogenic peptide 24922 whilst alpha-helical structure was found for non-immunogenic, non-protective peptides having differences in alpha-helical position. The changes performed on immunogenic, protection-inducing peptide 24922 allowed it to bind specifically to the HLA-DRbeta1*0301 molecule, suggesting that these changes may lead to better interaction with the MHC Class II-peptide-TCR complex rendering it immunogenic and protective, thus suggesting a new way of developing multi-component, sub-unit-based anti-malarial vaccines.

6671 is a non-immunogenic, conserved high activity red blood cell binding peptide located between residues 141 and 160 of the Plasmodium falciparum RESA protein. This peptide's critical red blood cell (RBC) binding residues have been replaced by amino acids having similar mass but different charge to change their immunologic properties. Three analogues (two of them immunogenic and protective and one immunogenic) were studied by purified HLA-DRbeta1* binding and NMR to correlate their structure with their immunological properties. Native peptide 6671 had a very flexible beta-sheet structure, whilst its immunogenic, protective, and non-protective peptide analogues presented an alpha-helical structure having different locations and lengths. These changes in peptide structure facilitated their fitting into HLA-DRbeta1* molecules. This paper shows for the first time how modifications performed on RESA protein non-immunogenic, non-protectogenic peptides impose a configuration allowing them to fit perfectly into the MHC II-TCR complex, in turn leading to appropriate activation of the immune system.