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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Cell. Infect. Microbiol.
Sec. Parasite and Host
Volume 15 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fcimb.2025.1529770

Evaluation of the transmission-blocking potential of Plasmodium vivax antigen Pvg37 using transgenic rodent parasites and clinical isolates

Provisionally accepted
Di Zhang Di Zhang 1*Yan Zhao Yan Zhao 1Dongyan Liu Dongyan Liu 2Fei Liu Fei Liu 1Pengbo Liu Pengbo Liu 1*Biying Zhang Biying Zhang 1*Zifang Wu Zifang Wu 1*Wanlapa Roobsoong Wanlapa Roobsoong 3Sirasate Bantuchai Sirasate Bantuchai 3Sataporn Thongpoon Sataporn Thongpoon 3*Piyarat Sripoorote Piyarat Sripoorote 3*Meilian Wang Meilian Wang 4*Liwang Cui Liwang Cui 5*Yaming Cao Yaming Cao 1*
  • 1 Department of Immunology, China Medical University, Shenyang, China
  • 2 Department of Gastroenterology and Medical Research Center, Shengjing Hospital of China Medical University, Shenyang, Liaoning Province, China
  • 3 Faculty of Tropical Medicine, Mahidol University, Salaya, Thailand
  • 4 Department of Pathogen Biology, China Medical University, Shenyang, China
  • 5 Department of Internal Medicine, University of South Florida, Tampa, Florida, United States

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Plasmodium vivax is a major cause of malaria, particularly outside Africa, necessitating effective strategies for public health management. Transmission-blocking vaccines (TBVs) have shown the potential to inhibit malaria transmission by targeting antigens expressed in sexual-stage parasites.Pbg37, a conserved protein expressed in sexual stages from gametocyte to ookinete in the rodent parasite P. berghei, is a viable target for TBV development.In this study, we constructed a transgenic strain, TrPvg37Pb, expressing Pvg37 using the P. berghei ΔPbg37 strain. Initial findings demonstrated that the replacement of Pbg37 with the exogenous Pvg37 did not impact parasite growth or development. Notably, Pvg37 was expressed during the gametocyte to ookinete development and was associated with the plasmic membrane, similar to Pbg37. To evaluate the potential of Pvg37 as a TBV candidate, we synthesized two Pvg37 polypeptides and immunized rabbits to generate antibodies. In vitro experiments demonstrated that anti-Pvg37-P2 antibodies significantly inhibited the formation of male gametes and ookinetes in the transgenic TrPvg37Pb parasite. Additionally, in mosquito feeding assays, mosquitos feeding on TrPvg37Pb-infected mice passively transferred with anti-Pvg37-P2 antibodies showed a significant 80.2% decrease in oocyst density compared to the control group. Furthermore, in direct membrane feeding experiments using four clinical P. vivax isolates, the anti-Pvg37 antibodies significantly reduced oocyst density by 28.6-50.4%.Pvg37 is a promising candidate for P. vivax TBV development, deserving further research and optimization to enhance its immunogenicity and transmission-blocking activity.

    Keywords: Plasmodium vivax, Transmission-blocking vaccine, Polypeptide, Transgenic parasite, Gametocyte

    Received: 17 Nov 2024; Accepted: 02 Jan 2025.

    Copyright: © 2025 Zhang, Zhao, Liu, Liu, Liu, Zhang, Wu, Roobsoong, Bantuchai, Thongpoon, Sripoorote, Wang, Cui and Cao. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence:
    Di Zhang, Department of Immunology, China Medical University, Shenyang, China
    Pengbo Liu, Department of Immunology, China Medical University, Shenyang, China
    Biying Zhang, Department of Immunology, China Medical University, Shenyang, China
    Zifang Wu, Department of Immunology, China Medical University, Shenyang, China
    Sataporn Thongpoon, Faculty of Tropical Medicine, Mahidol University, Salaya, 73170, Thailand
    Piyarat Sripoorote, Faculty of Tropical Medicine, Mahidol University, Salaya, 73170, Thailand
    Meilian Wang, Department of Pathogen Biology, China Medical University, Shenyang, China
    Liwang Cui, Department of Internal Medicine, University of South Florida, Tampa, 33620, Florida, United States
    Yaming Cao, Department of Immunology, China Medical University, Shenyang, China

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