The Plasmodium falciparum reticulocyte-binding protein homolog 5 (PfRH5) is the leading target for next-generation vaccines against the disease-causing blood-stage of malaria. However, little is known about how human antibodies confer functional immunity against this antigen. We isolated a panel of human monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) against PfRH5 from peripheral blood B cells from vaccinees in the first clinical trial of a PfRH5-based vaccine. We identified a subset of mAbs with neutralizing activity that bind to three distinct sites and another subset of mAbs that are non-functional, or even antagonistic to neutralizing antibodies. We also identify the epitope of a novel group of non-neutralizing antibodies that significantly reduce the speed of red blood cell invasion by the merozoite, thereby potentiating the effect of all neutralizing PfRH5 antibodies as well as synergizing with antibodies targeting other malaria invasion proteins. Our results provide a roadmap for structure-guided vaccine development to maximize antibody efficacy against blood-stage malaria.

Summary: AMPA is a web application for assessing the antimicrobial domains of proteins, with a focus on the design on new antimicrobial drugs. The application provides fast discovery of antimicrobial patterns in proteins that can be used to develop new peptide-based drugs against pathogens. Results are shown in a user-friendly graphical interface and can be downloaded as raw data for later examination. Availability: AMPA is freely available on the web at http://tcoffee.crg.cat/apps/ampa. The source code is also available in the web. Contact:marc.torrent@upf.edu; david.andreu@upf.edu Supplementary information: Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online.

Antimicrobial proteins and peptides (AMPs) are important effectors of the innate immune system that play a vital role in the prevention of infections. Recent advances have highlighted the similarity between AMPs and amyloid proteins. Using the Eosinophil Cationic Protein as a model, we have rationalized the structure-activity relationships between amyloid aggregation and antimicrobial activity. Our results show how protein aggregation can induce bacteria agglutination and cell death. Using confocal and total internal reflection fluorescence microscopy we have tracked the formation in situ of protein amyloid-like aggregates at the bacteria surface and on membrane models. In both cases, fibrillar aggregates able to bind to amyloid diagnostic dyes were detected. Additionally, a single point mutation (Ile13 to Ala) can suppress the protein amyloid behavior, abolishing the agglutinating activity and impairing the antimicrobial action. The mutant is also defective in triggering both leakage and lipid vesicle aggregation. We conclude that ECP aggregation at the bacterial surface is essential for its cytotoxicity. Hence, we propose here a new prospective biological function for amyloid-like aggregates with potential biological relevance. Microbial infections are reported among the worst human diseases and cause millions of deaths per year over the world. Antibiotics are used to treat infections and have saved more lives than any other drug in human history. However, due to extended use, many strains are becoming refractive to common antibiotics. In this light, new promising compounds, like antimicrobial proteins and peptides (AMPs) are being investigated. Some AMPs also show agglutinating activity; this is the ability to clump bacteria after treatment. This feature is particularly appealing because agglutinating peptides could be used to keep bacteria to the infection focus, helping microbe clearance by host immune cells. In this study, we propose a novel mechanism to explain agglutinating activity at a molecular level using Eosinophil Cationic Protein. We show that the agglutinating mechanism is driven by the protein amyloid-like aggregation at the bacteria cell surface. Accordingly, elimination of the amyloid behavior abolishes both the agglutinating and the antimicrobial activities. This study provides a new concept on how Nature could exploit amyloid-like aggregates to fight bacterial infections. Moreover, these results could also add new insights in understanding the relation between infection and inflammation with dementia and amyloid-related diseases like Alzheimer.

Clinical development of the COVID-19 vaccine candidate ChAdOx1 nCoV-19, a replication-deficient simian adenoviral vector expressing the full-length SARS-CoV-2 spike (S) protein was initiated in April 2020 following non-human primate studies using a single immunisation. Here, we compared the immunogenicity of one or two doses of ChAdOx1 nCoV-19 in both mice and pigs. Whilst a single dose induced antigen-specific antibody and T cells responses, a booster immunisation enhanced antibody responses, particularly in pigs, with a significant increase in SARS-CoV-2 neutralising titres.

Diseases caused by protozoan parasites can pose a severe thread to human health and are behind some serious neglected tropical diseases like malaria and leishmaniasis. Though several different drugs have been developed in order to eradicate these diseases, a successful candidate has not yet been discovered. Among the most active compounds tested, antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) are particularly appealing because of their wide spectrum of action. AMPs have been described to perturb protozoan homeostasis by disrupting the cellular membranes but also by interfering with key processes in the parasite metabolism. In this review we describe the diverse mechanisms of action of AMPs on protozoan targets and how they can be exploited to treat diseases. Moreover, we describe with detail the antimicrobial action of AMPs on two major parasitical infections: leishmaniasis and malaria. All the features reviewed here show that AMPs are promising drugs to target protozoan parasites and that further understanding of the mechanism of action of these compounds will lead to improved drugs that could be worth to test in a clinical phase.

Antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) are nowadays understood as broad multifunctional tools of the innate immune system to fight microbial infections. In addition to its direct antimicrobial action, AMPs can modulate the host immune response by promoting or restraining the recruitment of cells and chemicals to the infection focus. Binding of AMPs to lipopolysaccharide is a critical step for both their antimicrobial action and their immunomodulatory properties. On the one hand, removal of Gram-negative bacteria by AMPs can be an effective strategy to prevent a worsened inflammatory response that may lead to septic shock. On the other hand, by neutralizing circulating endotoxins, AMPs can successfully reduce nitric oxide and tumor necrosis factor-α production, hence preventing severe tissue damage. Furthermore, AMPs can also interfere with the Toll-like receptor 4 recognition system, suppressing cytokine production and contributing to modulate the inflammatory response. Here, we review the immune system strategies devised by AMPs to avoid an exacerbated inflammatory response and thus prevent a fatal end to the host.