Efficacy Of Asexual Blood-stage Antigens And Antigen Combinations For Vaccination Of Mice Against Plasmodium Chabaudi.
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$286,320.00
Summary
The development of a vaccine against malaria is one of the world's major public health priorities. Over the last two decades much progress has been made towards the development of a malaria vaccine but none is yet available that is suitable for use in humans. Many parasite molecules have been identified that are considered potential components of a malaria vaccine and some of these have already reach the stage of being tested in early clinical trials. However, a major problem confronting the fie ....The development of a vaccine against malaria is one of the world's major public health priorities. Over the last two decades much progress has been made towards the development of a malaria vaccine but none is yet available that is suitable for use in humans. Many parasite molecules have been identified that are considered potential components of a malaria vaccine and some of these have already reach the stage of being tested in early clinical trials. However, a major problem confronting the field of malaria vaccine development is finding the resources necessary to test the large number of antigens and antigen combinations that are considered of potential value. One way to gain information that will help to determine which antigens and antigen combinations should have priority for testing in clinical trials is to carry out vaccine trials in monkeys or mice using malaria parasites that infect these species. We will use Plasmodium chabaudi infections in the mouse to examine the ability of three antigens from the disease causing blood stages of the parasite to induce antibody responses that prevent the development of severe malaria. We will determine whether antigen combinations provide better protection than single antigens when mice are challenged with a variety of parasite strains. Detailed analyses of the antibody responses will be carried out to determine if combining antigens changes the response in a way that may help or hinder vaccine efficacy.Read moreRead less
Immunochemical And Functional Studies On A Novel Protein Of Plasmodium Falciparum Containing EGF-like Domains
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$211,527.00
Summary
Malaria infection of humans is one of the most important and deadly infectious diseases in the world, killing more than two million people each year. Traditionally, drugs and insecticides have been used to treat the disease and control its spread. Unfortunately, both of these have become much less effective and there now exist untreatable cases of malaria. Alternative control measures are urgently needed and this project focuses on developing a better understanding of how the malaria parasite fu ....Malaria infection of humans is one of the most important and deadly infectious diseases in the world, killing more than two million people each year. Traditionally, drugs and insecticides have been used to treat the disease and control its spread. Unfortunately, both of these have become much less effective and there now exist untreatable cases of malaria. Alternative control measures are urgently needed and this project focuses on developing a better understanding of how the malaria parasite functions. If important processes such as red blood cell invasion can be understood in detail then it becomes possible to identify proteins essential for survival of the parasite. These could then be used as a vaccine against the disease. Current work suggests that the vaccine will be need more than one parasite protein and it becomes essential to identify the best combination of components. The parasite protein called MSP1 is thought to be a very promising candidate, but it is insufficiently active on its own. We have recently discovered a new protein in the human malaria parasite Plasmodium falciparum, that is similar to MSP1. We would like to know more about this protein and determine if it may be a useful addition to MSP1 for a vaccine. This project intends to further characterize the properties of this new protein including its role in red blood cell invasion and to examine whether immunization with the rodent malaria form of the protein is able to protect mice against malaria infection. The results of this project will be highly significant in the field of malaria vaccine development and will indicate whether this new protein will be a useful component of the eventual malaria vaccine.Read moreRead less