Peptide Vaccines for Malaria

This chapter focuses on the development of peptide vaccines for malaria. The first approach aimed at obtaining a malaria vaccine using synthetic peptides was a polymeric chimeric molecule named SPf66, which conferred limited protective efficacy in Aotus monkeys and in large human field-trials. The second approach on obtaining a second generation malaria vaccine was based on the rational selection of conserved high activity binding peptides (HABPs). Peptide side chains, as well as peptide backbone, make a critical contribution toward T-lymphocyte receptor (TCR) recognition and T-cell stimulation as a consequence of appropriate antigen presentation within the context of major histocompatibility complex-II (MHC-II) molecules. Pseudopeptides are becoming a viable alternative tool for vaccine design and use with MHC, but a great deal of work still remains to be done. However, predicting any particular peptide's affinity for an MHC molecule is currently beyond our capacities. Pseudopeptide chemistry offers the possibility of mimicking certain peptide conformations or antigenic protein transient stages by inducing both local and global structural constraints.