Pfs230 yields higher malaria transmission-blocking vaccine activity than Pfs25 in humans but not mice.

BACKGROUNDVaccines that block human-to-mosquito Plasmodium transmission are needed for malaria eradication, and clinical trials have targeted zygote antigen Pfs25 for decades. We reported that a Pfs25 protein-protein conjugate vaccine formulated in alum adjuvant induced serum functional activity in both US and Malian adults. However, antibody levels declined rapidly, and transmission-reducing activity required 4 vaccine doses.

Noninvasive real-time monitoring of liver-stage development of bioluminescent Plasmodium parasites.

Background: The morbidity and mortality associated with malaria are heightened because of the spread of drug-resistant parasites and the lack of an effective vaccine. Plasmodium liver stages are the targets of new chemotherapeutics and vaccines, but there are limited tools available to study this stage in vivo.

Methods: To overcome this obstacle, we developed a method with which to study Plasmodium liver stages by means of bioluminescent imaging (BLI) of the rodent malaria parasite Plasmodium yoelii.

Targeting a novel Plasmodium falciparum purine recycling pathway with specific immucillins.

Plasmodium falciparum is unable to synthesize purine bases and relies upon purine salvage and purine recycling to meet its purine needs. We report that purines formed as products of polyamine synthesis are recycled in a novel pathway in which 5'-methylthioinosine is generated by adenosine deaminase. The action of P.