{"doi":"10.1371/journal.pone.0302605","title":"Cross-reactivity of rPvs48/45, a recombinant Plasmodium vivax protein, with plasma from Plasmodium falciparum endemic areas of Africa","abstract":"BACKGROUND: Ps48/45, a Plasmodium gametocyte surface protein, is a promising candidate for malaria transmission-blocking (TB) vaccine. Due to its relevance for a multispecies vaccine, we explored the cross-reactivity and TB activity of a recombinant P. vivax Ps48/45 protein (rPvs48/45) with plasma from P. falciparum-exposed African donors. METHODS: rPvs48/45 was produced in Chinese hamster ovary cell lines and tested by ELISA for cross-reactivity with plasma from Burkina Faso, Tanzania, Mali, and Nigeria. In addition, BALB/c mice were immunized with the rPvs48/45 protein formulated in Montanide ISA-51 and inoculated with a crude extract of P. falciparum NF-54 gametocytes to evaluate the parasite-boosting effect on rPvs48/45 antibody titers. Specific anti-rPvs48/45 IgG purified from African plasma was used to evaluate the ex vivo TB activity on P. falciparum, using standard mosquito membrane feeding assays (SMFA). RESULTS: rPvs48/45 protein showed cross-reactivity with plasma of individuals from all four African countries, in proportions ranging from 94% (Tanzania) to 40% (Nigeria). Also, the level of cross-reactive antibodies varied significantly between countries (p < 0.0001), with a higher antibody level in Mali and the lowest in Nigeria. In addition, antibody levels were higher in adults ( ≥ 17 years) than young children ( ≤ 5 years) in both Mali and Tanzania, with a higher proportion of responders in adults (90%) than in children (61%) (p < 0.0001) in Mali, where male (75%) and female (80%) displayed similar antibody responses. Furthermore, immunization of mice with P. falciparum gametocytes boosted anti-Pvs48/45 antibody responses, recognizing P. falciparum gametocytes in indirect immunofluorescence antibody test. Notably, rPvs48/45 affinity-purified African IgG exhibited a TB activity of 61% against P. falciparum in SMFA. CONCLUSION: Plasma from African volunteers predominantly exposed to P. falciparum cross-recognized the rPvs48/45 protein. This, together with the functional activity of IgG, warrants further studies for the potential development of a P. vivax and P. falciparum cross-protective TB vaccine.","journal":"PLoS ONE","year":2025,"id":563103,"datarank":0.0,"base_score":0.0,"endowment":0.0,"self_citation_contribution":0.0,"citation_network_contribution":0.0,"self_endowment_contribution":0.0,"citer_contribution":0.0,"corpus_percentile":null,"corpus_rank":null,"citation_count":0,"citer_count":0,"citers_with_citation_signal":0,"citers_with_endowment":0,"datacite_reuse_total":0,"is_dataset":false,"is_dataset_confidence":0.9589,"is_data_producer":false,"deposit_databanks":null,"is_oa":true,"file_count":0,"downloads":0,"has_version_chain":false,"published_date":"2025-01-01","fair_score":null,"fair_percentile":null,"algorithm_id":"datarank_citation_only_1hop_v6","ranking_scope":"data_only","authors":[{"id":329084,"name":"Kazutoyo Miura","orcid":"0000-0003-4455-2432","position":1,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":1465996,"name":"Imen Ayadi","orcid":"0000-0003-4325-4900","position":2,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":403037,"name":"Drissa Konaté","orcid":"0000-0002-4177-9642","position":3,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":1466259,"name":"Nathan C. 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Kajava","orcid":"0000-0002-2342-6886","position":12,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":384668,"name":"Mahamadou Diakité","orcid":"0000-0002-4268-8857","position":13,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":773091,"name":"Giampietro Corradin","orcid":null,"position":14,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":792635,"name":"Sócrates Herrera","orcid":null,"position":15,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":772448,"name":"Myriam Arévalo‐Herrera","orcid":"0000-0002-3434-9425","position":16,"is_corresponding":false},{"id":1108227,"name":"Saidou Balam","orcid":"0000-0002-7178-7758","position":0,"is_corresponding":true}],"reference_count":48,"raw_metadata":null,"created_at":"2026-07-19T02:56:13.374766Z","pmid":"40100850","pmcid":null,"fwci":null,"citation_percentile":null,"influential_citations":0,"oa_status":null,"license":null,"views":0,"total_file_size_bytes":0,"version_count":0,"fair_f":null,"fair_a":null,"fair_i":null,"fair_r":null,"fair_zscore":null,"fair_rationale":null,"fair_model":null,"fair_agent_version":null,"fair_fulltext_source":null,"fair_has_llm":null,"fair_computed_at":null,"clinical_trials":[],"software_tools":[],"db_accessions":[],"linked_datasets":[],"topics":[]}