Structure-Guided Design of a Synthetic Mimic of an Endothelial Protein C Receptor-Binding PfEMP1 Protein.

ABSTRACT: Structure-guided vaccine design provides a route to elicit a focused immune response against the most functionally important regions of a pathogen surface. This can be achieved by identifying epitopes for neutralizing antibodies through structural methods and recapitulating these epitopes by grafting their core structural features onto smaller scaffolds. In this study, we conducted a modified version of this protocol. We focused on the PfEMP1 protein family found on the surfaces of erythrocytes infected with Plasmodium falciparum A subset of PfEMP1 proteins bind to endothelial protein C receptor (EPCR), and their expression correlates with development of the symptoms of severe malaria. Structural studies revealed that PfEMP1 molecules present a helix-kinked-helix motif that forms th

SUBMITTER: Barber NM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7845591 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature