Defining targets of protective immunity to vivax malaria using human monoclonal antibodies

我们提案的目标是开发预防和治疗人类疟疾的新方法 间日疟原虫（Plasmodium vivax）这种类型的疟疾，被称为间日疟，是最 一种广泛分布的疟疾，全球有33亿人面临风险，至少有1500万例临床病例 每年.作为撒哈拉以南非洲以外最常见的疟疾形式，它可导致严重疾病， 世界上很大一部分人口的死亡。大多数人通过反复接触间日疟原虫 随着时间推移，感染获得部分免疫力。免疫力部分地由获得性抗体（Ab）介导， 必需的寄生虫蛋白质，可以阻止寄生虫侵入肝脏和红细胞，从而防止 感染，如果被感染，减少疾病的风险。这项提案旨在分离人单克隆抗体 （单克隆抗体）从对间日疟有免疫力的个体中识别一些已知的关键分子， 对肝脏和红细胞的侵袭至关重要。一旦分离，将评价这些mAb是否 它们在体外阻断寄生虫对肝脏和红细胞的侵入，并在体内使用小鼠模型和遗传学方法， 改良的寄生虫具有强效阻断活性的单克隆抗体将进一步表征，以确切地了解 以及它们在哪里与寄生虫蛋白质相互作用，以及不同种群中的个体是否也具有 相同或相似的抗体。这些信息可以用来帮助设计一种对抗间日疟的疫苗。 这些单克隆抗体也可用于治疗重症患者，或用于长期预防间日疟， 因为单次注射修饰的mAb可以持续数周甚至数月。

The goal of our proposal is to develop new approaches for the prevention and treatment of human malaria caused by the parasite Plasmodium vivax (P. vivax). This type of malaria, known as vivax malaria, is the most widely distributed type of malaria with 3.3 billion people at risk and at least 15 million clinical cases worldwide each year. As the most common form of malaria outside sub-Saharan Africa, it can cause severe illness and death across a large segment of the world's population. Most individuals exposed to P. vivax through repeated infection gain partial immunity over time. The immunity is mediated, in part, by acquired antibodies (Abs) to essential parasite proteins that can block the parasite invasion into liver and red blood cells thereby preventing infection and if infected reduce the risk of disease. This proposal aims to isolate human monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) from individuals with immunity to vivax malaria that recognize a few key molecules known to be essential for invasion of liver and red blood cells. Once isolated these mAbs will be evaluated as to whether they block parasite invasion of liver and red cells in vitro, and in vivo using murine models and genetically modified parasites. Monoclonal Abs with potent blocking activity will be further characterized as to exactly how and where they interact with parasite proteins and whether individuals in diverse populations also have the same or similar antibodies. This information can be used to help to design a vaccine against vivax malaria. These mAbs can also be used for treatment of severely ill patients, or for prevention of vivax malaria over time, since a single injection of modified mAbs can last for weeks and even months.