Mayumi TachibanaYimin WuHideyuki IrikoOlga MuratovaNicholas J. MacDonaldJetsumon SattabongkotSatoru TakeoHitoshi OtsukiMotomi ToriiTakafumi TsuboiEhime UniversityNational Institute of Allergy and Infectious DiseasesTottori UniversityArmed Forces Research Institute of Medical Sciences, ThailandMahidol University2018-05-032018-05-032011-08-01Clinical and Vaccine Immunology. Vol.18, No.8 (2011), 1343-13501556679X155668112-s2.0-79961122590https://repository.li.mahidol.ac.th/handle/20.500.14594/11507The aim of a malaria transmission-blocking vaccine is to block the development of malaria parasites in the mosquito and thus prevent subsequent infection of the human host. Previous studies have demonstrated that the gametocyte/gamete surface protein Pfs230 can induce transmission-blocking immunity and have evaluated Escherichia coli-produced Pfs230 as a transmission-blocking vaccine candidate. In this study, we used the wheat germ cell-free expression system to produce N-terminal fragments of Pfs230 and evaluated the transmission-blocking activity of antisera raised against the recombinant Pfs230 protein. The rabbit antisera reacted to the surface of cultured gametocytes and gametes of the Plasmodium falciparum NF54 line, recognized the 360-kDa form of parasite-produced Pfs230 by Western blot assay, and reduced the infectivity of NF54 parasites to Anopheles stefensi mosquitoes in the presence of complement in a standard membrane feeding assay. Thus, our data demonstrate that the N-terminal pro domain of Pfs230 is sufficient to induce complement-dependent transmission-blocking activity against P. falciparum. Copyright © 2011, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.Mahidol UniversityBiochemistry, Genetics and Molecular BiologyImmunology and MicrobiologyMedicineArticleSCOPUS10.1128/CVI.05104-11