Last Updated: 28/05/2025
Contribution of Pfs48/45 to malaria transmission-blocking immunity
Objectives
The long term objective is to develop an effective transmission-blocking vaccine (TBV) that can be boosted during a natural infection to increase the duration of protection. This study is designed to evaluate whether natural parasite exposure induces antibodies that recognize a vaccine candidate (GMZ3), which is a chimeric antigen composed of P. falciparum P48/45 (Pfs48/45) fused in frame with a section of P. falciparum glutamate rich protein (GLURP), and whether anti-GMZ3 antibodies block transmission of naturally circulating strains of P. falciparum.
To test this we propose:
- evaluate the ability of anti-GMZ3 antibodies produced in rats to block the infectivity of natural isolates to mosquitoes.
- evaluate whether natural parasite exposure induces Pfs48/45/GMZ3 antibodies that contribute to transmission-blocking immunity.
To successfully eliminate malaria, which continues to be responsible for 8% of all the deaths of children under five, new malaria control strategies are needed, including transmission blocking vaccines (TBV). Toward this goal, we have recently produced correctly-folded P. falciparum gametocyte surface protein P48/45 (Pfs48/45) in a form that is ready for GMP production (GMZ3) and induces antibodies that disrupt parasite infectivity to mosquitoes in a standard membrane feed using in vitro culture-adapted parasites.
Feb 2013 — Jan 2015
$134,157
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