Volume 201, Issue 1 pp. 254-267

The immunological challenge to developing a vaccine to the blood stages of malaria parasites

Michael F. Good

Corresponding Author

Michael F. Good

Queensland Institute of Medical Research, Brisbane, Australia.

* Michael F. Good
The Queensland Institute of Medical Research
The Bancroft Center, 300 Herston Road
PO Royal Brisbane Hospital
QLD 4029
Australia
Tel.: +61 7 3362 0266
Fax: +61 7 3362 0110
E-mail: [email protected]
URL: http://www.qimr.edu.au/Search for more papers by this author
Danielle Stanisic

Danielle Stanisic

Queensland Institute of Medical Research, Brisbane, Australia.

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Huji Xu

Huji Xu

Queensland Institute of Medical Research, Brisbane, Australia.

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Salenna Elliott

Salenna Elliott

The Department of Medicine, The University of Melbourne, Australia.

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Michelle Wykes

Michelle Wykes

Queensland Institute of Medical Research, Brisbane, Australia.

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First published: 10 September 2004
Citations: 34

Abstract

Summary: Twenty-one years after malaria antigens were first cloned, a vaccine still appears to be a long way off. There have been periods of great excitement, and in model systems, subunit vaccine homologs can induce robust protection. However, significant challenges exist concerning antigenic variation and polymorphism, immunological non-responsiveness to individual vaccine antigens, parasite-induced apoptosis of immune effector and memory cells, and immune deviation as a result of maternal immunity and alterations of dendritic cell function. Novel approaches will be required. This review addresses some of the approaches that might present malaria antigens in a way designed to induce superior immune responses or that target novel conserved epitopes. Cell-mediated immunity, acting independently of antibody, may exert potent anti-parasite effects, and identification of multiple target antigens/epitopes could lead to the development of vaccines with profound efficacy.

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