Sequence conservation in Plasmodium falciparum alpha-helical coiled coil domains proposed for vaccine development.

ABSTRACT:

Background

The availability of the P. falciparum genome has led to novel ways to identify potential vaccine candidates. A new approach for antigen discovery based on the bioinformatic selection of heptad repeat motifs corresponding to alpha-helical coiled coil structures yielded promising results. To elucidate the question about the relationship between the coiled coil motifs and their sequence conservation, we have assessed the extent of polymorphism in putative alpha-helical coiled coil domains in culture strains, in natural populations and in the single nucleotide polymorphism data available at PlasmoDB.

Methodology/principal findings

14 alpha-helical coiled coil domains were selected based on preclinical experimental evaluation. They were tested by PCR amplification and

SUBMITTER: Kulangara C 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2683929 | biostudies-literature | 2009 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature