Evaluation of Vaccine Antigens Against Lymphatic Filariasis

A significant public health concern is the control of parasitic nematodes in order to minimize the burden of lymphatic filariasis in endemic regions. The development of a vaccine is a potentially cost-effective approach towards control and elimination of this parasitic disease. Based on a genome-wide analysis of the developmental stages of the filarial parasite Brugia pahangi, molecular targets for interrupting the development of the filarial parasites were identified. Using genetic engineering technology and protein expression systems, five vaccine antigens were cloned and expressed as recombinant proteins in yeast and bacterial expression platforms. With this preliminary evidence, we believe these proteins are expressible for pilot-scale biomanufacturing for preclinical trials, but further evaluation of the vaccine antigens will prove useful for accelerating and prioritizing them down through the development pipeline. Initial bioinformatics analysis has elucidated possible peptide sequences that could act as epitopes in the vaccination process. With the following results, efforts towards creating a transmission blocking vaccine TBV for LF can be feasibly attainable, and the proposal for building a recombinant subunit vaccine or a multiple antigen peptide system is suggested.