Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • Letter
  • Published:

Cloning and expression in E. coli of the malarial sporozoite surface antigen gene from Plasmodium knowlesi

Nature volume 302, pages 536–538 (1983)Cite this article

Abstract

The malarial sporozoite, the infective stage found in the salivary gland of the insect vector, bears highly immunogenic surface antigen(s). Repeated exposure to irradiated sporozoites induces protection against malaria in several host species, including man1. Further, monoclonal antibodies that confer passive immunity react with the immunogenic surface determinants of different sporozoite species2–4. One approach to prevent malaria, therefore, would be to produce a vaccine that induces high titres of circulating antibodies against the sporozoite surface determinant(s). However, production of such a vaccine has not been possible since sporozoites cannot be cultivated in vitro and, therefore, only limited amounts of surface antigen may be obtained. To overcome this problem, we have prepared mRNA from Plasmodium knowlesi-infected mosquitoes to construct a cDNA library. From this library we have isolated a clone that expresses the sporozoite surface antigen as a β-lactamase fusion protein in the plasmid pBR322. This is the first potentially protective malarial antigen to be cloned by recombinant DNA technology.

Access through your institution
Buy or subscribe

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Access through your institution

Buy this article

  • Purchase on SpringerLink
  • Instant access to full article PDF
Buy now

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Nussenzweig, R. S. in Immunity to Blood Parasites of Animals and Man (eds Miller, L., Pino, J. & McKelvey, J.) 75–87 (Plenum, New York, 1977).

    Book  Google Scholar 

  2. Yoshida, N., Nussenzweig, R. S., Potocnjak, P., Nussenzweig, V. & Aikawa, M. O. Science 207, 71–73 (1980).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  3. Cochrane, A., Santoro, F., Nussenzweig, V., Gwadz, R. & Nussenzweig, R. S. Proc natn. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 79, 5651–5655 (1982).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  4. Nardin, E. H. et al. J. exp. Med. 156, 20–30 (1982).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  5. Aviv, H. & Leder, P. Proc. natn. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 69, 1408–1412 (1972).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  6. Roman, R., Brooker, J. D., Seal, S. N. & Marcus, A. Nature 260, 359–360 (1978).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  7. Steiner, D. F. et al. Prog. Cell Biol. 4, 175–202 (1980).

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  8. Cochrane, A. H., Nussenzweig, R. S. & Nardin, E. H. in Malaria Vol. 3 (ed. Kreier, J.) 163–202 (Academic, New York, 1980).

    Book  Google Scholar 

  9. Efstratiadis, A., Kafatos, F. C., Maxam, A. M. & Maniatis, T. Cell 7, 279–288 (1976).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  10. Villa-Komaroff, L. et al. Proc. natn. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 75, 3727–3721 (1978).

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  11. Dagert, M. & Erlich, S. D. Gene 6, 23–28 (1979).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  12. Zavala, F., Gwadz, R. S., Collins, F. H., Nussenzweig, R. S. & Nussenzweig, V. Nature 299, 737–738 (1982).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  13. Carbon, J., Clarke, L., Chinault, C., Ratzkin, B. & Walz, A. in Biochemistry and Genetics of Yeasts (eds Bacila, M., Horecker, B. L. & Styspani, A. O. M.) 425–443 (Academic, New York, 1978).

    Book  Google Scholar 

  14. Korman, A. J., Knudsen, P. J., Kaufman, J. F. & Strominger, J. L. Proc. natn. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 79, 1844–1848 (1982).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  15. Chirgwin, J. M., Przybyla, A. E., MacDonald, R. J. & Rutter, W. J. Biochemistry 18, 5294–5299 (1979).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  16. Liu, C., Slate, D. L., Gravel, R. & Ruddle, F. H. Proc. natn. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 76, 4503–4506 (1979).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  17. Denhardt, D. Biochem. biophys. Res. Commun. 23, 641–652 (1966).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  18. Roberts, B. E. & Paterson, B. M. Proc. natn. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 70, 2330–2334 (1973).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  19. Goldman, B. M. & Blobel, G. Proc. natn. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 75, 5066–5070 (1978).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  20. Laemmli, U. K. Nature 227, 680–685 (1970).

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  21. Yoshida, N., Totocynjak, P., Nussenzweig, V. & Nussenzweig, R. S. J. exp. Med. 154, 1225–1236 (1981).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. The Department of Biochemistry, The Division of Parasitology of The Department of Microbiology and the Department of Pathology, New York University Medical Center, 550 First Avenue, New York, New York, 10016, USA

    Joan Ellis, Luiz S. Ozaki, Robert W. Gwadz, Alan H. Cochrane, Victor Nussenzweig, Ruth S. Nussenzweig & G. Nigel Godson

  2. The Laboratory of Parasitic Diseases, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland, 20205, USA

    Joan Ellis, Luiz S. Ozaki, Robert W. Gwadz, Alan H. Cochrane, Victor Nussenzweig, Ruth S. Nussenzweig & G. Nigel Godson

Authors
  1. Joan Ellis
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author inPubMed Google Scholar

  2. Luiz S. Ozaki
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author inPubMed Google Scholar

  3. Robert W. Gwadz
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author inPubMed Google Scholar

  4. Alan H. Cochrane
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author inPubMed Google Scholar

  5. Victor Nussenzweig
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author inPubMed Google Scholar

  6. Ruth S. Nussenzweig
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author inPubMed Google Scholar

  7. G. Nigel Godson
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author inPubMed Google Scholar

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Ellis, J., Ozaki, L., Gwadz, R. et al. Cloning and expression in E. coli of the malarial sporozoite surface antigen gene from Plasmodium knowlesi. Nature 302, 536–538 (1983). https://doi.org/10.1038/302536a0

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/302536a0

This article is cited by

Search

Advanced search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing