Production of Malaria Vaccine in Drosophila S2 Cells gives promising results, Study Finds.

Adapted from https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/150670.php 

 The dream to produce Plasmodium falciparum reticulocyte-binding protein homolog 5 (PfRH5), a protein vaccine for Malaria without any immunogenic and clinical viability difficulties may have come. This comes after a team of researchers successfully produced the protein vaccine in Drosophila S2 cells, a study recently published by npj Vaccines reveals.

Malaria remains a global public concern despite various interventions by agencies like the World Health Organization. The poses huge economic burdens, especially in resource-limited countries. The fight against malaria continues not only with therapeutic drugs but preventive and control measures across the world. Vaccines against malaria have gained scientific attention. 

There is continued research and efforts to develop effective vaccines against the Plasmodium falciparum caused malaria. Scientists believe that subunit vaccines can induce antibodies which interfere with the survival, replication, and virulence of the parasite. One promising candidate is the Plasmodium falciparum reticulocyte-binding protein homolog 5 (PfRH5), a protein essential for the blood-stage infection of the parasite. However, production of a clinically viable vaccine of this protein has been surrounded with difficulties.

In this study by Jin et al, researchers produced the protein using the ExpreS2 platform (a system based on S2 stable cells of the fruit fly, Drosophila melanogaster. Their production process resulted in a more 400 mg of high purity protein. This protein vaccine they named RH 5.1 passed the quality control tests which includes purity, stability and sterility tests. The researchers then formulated RH5.1 in AS01_B adjuvant and immunized mice. 

The vaccine produced antibodies with inhibitory properties on the blood stage malaria parasite Plasmodium falciparum. The RH5.1/AS01_B vaccine has thus far been approved for clinical trials. Should the vaccine work efficiently in vivo and pass the clinical trial phases, it will prove the efficiency and potential use of the Drosophila S2 cell line in the production of recombinant subunit proteins. 

Read the full paper here: https://rdcu.be/5cAJ

Reference

Jin et al. Production, quality control, stability, and potency of cGMP produced Plasmodium falciparum RH5.1 protein vaccine expressed in Drosophila S2 cells. Npj Vaccines (2018) 3:32. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41541-018-0071-7