TY - JOUR
T1 - Engineered DNA-encoded monoclonal antibodies targeting Plasmodium falciparum circumsporozoite protein confer single dose protection in a murine malaria challenge model
AU - Tursi, Nicholas J.
AU - Reeder, Sophia M.
AU - Flores-Garcia, Yevel
AU - Bah, Mamadou A.
AU - Mathis-Torres, Shamika
AU - Salgado-Jimenez, Berenice
AU - Esquivel, Rianne
AU - Xu, Ziyang
AU - Chu, Jacqueline D.
AU - Humeau, Laurent
AU - Patel, Ami
AU - Zavala, Fidel
AU - Weiner, David B.
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2022, The Author(s).
PY - 2022/12
Y1 - 2022/12
N2 - Novel approaches for malaria prophylaxis remain important. Synthetic DNA-encoded monoclonal antibodies (DMAbs) are a promising approach to generate rapid, direct in vivo host-generated mAbs with potential benefits in production simplicity and distribution coupled with genetic engineering. Here, we explore this approach in a malaria challenge model. We engineered germline-reverted DMAbs based on human mAb clones CIS43, 317, and L9 which target a junctional epitope, major repeat, and minor repeat of the Plasmodium falciparum circumsporozoite protein (CSP) respectively. DMAb variants were encoded into a plasmid vector backbone and their expression and binding profiles were characterized. We demonstrate long-term serological expression of DMAb constructs resulting in in vivo efficacy of CIS43 GL and 317 GL in a rigorous mosquito bite mouse challenge model. Additionally, we engineered an Fc modified variant of CIS43 and L9-based DMAbs to ablate binding to C1q to test the impact of complement-dependent Fc function on challenge outcomes. Complement knockout variant DMAbs demonstrated similar protection to that of WT Fc DMAbs supporting the notion that direct binding to the parasite is sufficient for the protection observed. Further investigation of DMAbs for malaria prophylaxis appears of importance.
AB - Novel approaches for malaria prophylaxis remain important. Synthetic DNA-encoded monoclonal antibodies (DMAbs) are a promising approach to generate rapid, direct in vivo host-generated mAbs with potential benefits in production simplicity and distribution coupled with genetic engineering. Here, we explore this approach in a malaria challenge model. We engineered germline-reverted DMAbs based on human mAb clones CIS43, 317, and L9 which target a junctional epitope, major repeat, and minor repeat of the Plasmodium falciparum circumsporozoite protein (CSP) respectively. DMAb variants were encoded into a plasmid vector backbone and their expression and binding profiles were characterized. We demonstrate long-term serological expression of DMAb constructs resulting in in vivo efficacy of CIS43 GL and 317 GL in a rigorous mosquito bite mouse challenge model. Additionally, we engineered an Fc modified variant of CIS43 and L9-based DMAbs to ablate binding to C1q to test the impact of complement-dependent Fc function on challenge outcomes. Complement knockout variant DMAbs demonstrated similar protection to that of WT Fc DMAbs supporting the notion that direct binding to the parasite is sufficient for the protection observed. Further investigation of DMAbs for malaria prophylaxis appears of importance.
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U2 - 10.1038/s41598-022-18375-6
DO - 10.1038/s41598-022-18375-6
M3 - Article
C2 - 35995959
AN - SCOPUS:85136230007
SN - 2045-2322
VL - 12
JO - Scientific reports
JF - Scientific reports
IS - 1
M1 - 14313
ER -