Utilizing gametocyte immunity to reduce malaria transmission

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The continuing success of the current malaria elimination campaign requires novel tools to efficiently block human infection and subsequent transmission of the parasite to mosquitoes. Current transmission blocking strategies target the development of the parasite in the mosquito stage, requiring complicated mosquito feeding readouts to measure efficacy. We recently identified the bone marrow as the major site of transmission stage development during infection. Based on this finding we hypothesized that the underlying host parasite interactions could be exploited to block parasite transmission. Indeed our preliminary studies demonstrate natural immune responses against parasite surface antigens and their functionality in terms of immune clearance. Here we utilize this new understanding to systematically define the immunity targeting malaria transmission with the ultimate goal of prioritizing a set of novel transmission blocking vaccine candidates.