Characterisation of an inhibitory monoclonal antibody-defined epitope on a malaria vaccine candidate antigen.

A monoclonal antibody that recognizes a recently characterised 45-kDa merozoite surface antigen of the human malaria parasite Plasmodium falciparum inhibits the growth of the asexual blood stages of the parasite in vitro. The corresponding epitope has been determined by testing the reactivity of the antibody with sequentially overlapping octapeptides. A synthetic peptide containing the epitope elicits antibodies that react with the native antigen. Epitope mapping in this manner is useful in the design of synthetic vaccines against malaria.