Recombinant methionine aminopeptidase protein of Babesia microti: immunobiochemical characterization as a vaccine candidate against human babesiosis.

Human babesiosis is the most important zoonotic protozoan infection in the world. This is the first report of the cloning, expression, purification, and immunobiochemical characterization of a methionine aminopeptidase 1 (MetAP1) protein from Babesia microti (B. microti). The gene encodes a MetAP1 protein of B. microti (BmMetAP1) of approximately 66.8 kDa that includes glutathione S-transferase (GST) tag and shows MetAP activity. BmMetAP1 was detected in a lysate of B. microti and further localized in cytoplasm of the B. microti merozoite. rBmMetAP1 was found to be immunogenic, eliciting a high antibody titer in mice. Moreover, rBmMetAP1 stimulated the production of IFN-γ and IL-12 but not IL-4. Finally, rBmMetAP1 was able to provide considerable protection to mice against a B. microti challenge infection based on a reduction in peak parasitemia levels and earlier clearance of the parasite as compared with control mice. Taken together, these results suggest that rBmMetAP1 confers significant protection against experimental B. microti infection and might be considered a potential vaccine target against human babesiosis.