Utilizing gametocyte immunity to reduce malaria transmission

当前消灭疟疾运动的持续成功需要新的工具来有效地阻止人类感染和随后将寄生虫传播给蚊子。目前的传播阻断策略针对的是寄生虫在蚊子阶段的发展，需要复杂的蚊子喂食读数来衡量效果。我们最近确定骨髓是感染过程中传播阶段发育的主要部位。基于这一发现，我们假设潜在的寄主寄生虫相互作用可以被利用来阻止寄生虫的传播。事实上，我们的初步研究证明了针对寄生虫表面抗原的自然免疫反应及其在免疫清除方面的功能。在这里，我们利用这一新的理解来系统地定义针对疟疾传播的免疫，最终目标是优先考虑一组新的传播阻断疫苗候选。

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.