Molecular and Antigenic Properties of Mammalian Cell-Expressed Theileria parva Antigen Tp9

Evidence from laboratory and animal studies provides groundwork for understanding mechanisms and potential before human studies continue.

• Level A · Stronger Clinical Evidence
• Level B · Emerging clinical evidence with positive signals
• Level C · Early human research exploring benefits
• Level D · Scientific groundwork from lab and animal studies
• Emerging · Emerging topic under active research

Abstract (original English)

East Coast Fever (ECF), caused by the tick-borne apicomplexan parasite Theileria parva , is a leading cause of morbidity and mortality in cattle of sub-Saharan Africa. The infection and treatment method (ITM) is currently the only vaccine available to control T. parva . Although ITM elicits levels of protection, its widespread adoption is limited by costs, laborious production process, and antibiotic co-treatment requirement, necessitating the development of a more sustainable vaccine. To this end, efforts have been concentrated in the identification of new T. parva vaccine antigens and in the development of suitable platforms for antigen expression. In this study, we investigated the molecular and antigenic properties of T. parva antigen Tp9 expressed by mammalian cells. Data indicate that Tp9 contains a signal peptide that is weakly functional in mammalian cells. Thus, Tp9 secretion from mammalian cells increased 10-fold after the native signal peptide was replaced with the human tissue plasminogen activator signal peptide (tPA). Sera from all T. parva -immune cattle recognized this recombinant, secreted Tp9. Additionally, PBMC from ITM-immunized cattle produced significant ( p ex vivo exposure to Tp9, but this response varied between cattle of different MHC class I and class II genotypes. In addition, depletion experiments demonstrated that IFNγ to Tp9 was primarily produced

Evidence level

Evidence from laboratory and animal studies provides groundwork for understanding mechanisms and potential before human studies continue.

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