Induction of protective CTL responses against the Plasmodium yoelii circumsporozoite protein by immunization with peptides

To determine the optimum combination, concentration, and formulation of synthetic peptides and adjuvants to induce protective CTL responses against the Plasmodium yoelii circumsporozoite protein (PyCSP), BALB/c mice were immunized with linear and multiple antigen peptides (MAP) including PyCSP CTL and Th epitopes in Montanide's ISA51, Lipofectin, and Lipofectamine. An H-2K(d)-restricted PyCSP CTL epitope, SYVPSAEQI (amino acids (aa) 280-288), recognized by protective CTL clones, was included in the following peptides: a 9-aa linear peptide (SYVPSAEQI; PyCSP9), a 20-aa linear peptide (aa 280-299; SYVPSAEQILEFVKQISSL; PyCSP20), a MAP containing four branches of PyCSP20 (MAP(280-299)), and a linear peptide and a MAP(MAP(280-299)p2p30) in which PyCSP20 was colinearly synthesized with two universal Th epitopes from tetanus toxin (p2p30). A MAP containing the PyCSP Th epitope (aa 57-70; KIYNRNIVNRLLGD) was included in some experiments. The highest specific lytic activity against peptide-pulsed target cells was obtained with splenocytes from mice immunized with three doses at 3-wk intervals of MAP(280-299)p2p30 in Lipofectin or Lipofectamine. Forty percent of the mice immunized with MAP(280-299)p2p30 and Lipofectin were protected against sporozoite challenge. Immunization with CTL and Th epitopes co-linearly synthesized in a MAP induced significantly better CTL than did immunization with the same sequence as a linear peptide, or immunization with a mixture of two individual MAPs, one with the CTL epitope and the second with the Th epitope