Force Spectroscopy of the Plasmodium falciparum Vaccine Candidate Circumsporozoite Protein Suggests a Mechanically Pliable Repeat Region.

ABSTRACT: The most effective vaccine candidate of malaria is based on the Plasmodium falciparum circumsporozoite protein (CSP), a major surface protein implicated in the structural strength, motility, and immune evasion properties of the infective sporozoites. It is suspected that reversible conformational changes of CSP are required for infection of the mammalian host, but the detailed structure and dynamic properties of CSP remain incompletely understood, limiting our understanding of its function in the infection. Here, we report the structural and mechanical properties of the CSP studied using single-molecule force spectroscopy on several constructs, one including the central region of CSP, which is rich in NANP amino acid repeats (CSP_rep), and a second consisting of a near ful

SUBMITTER: Patra AP 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5313086 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature