Oral immunization of mice with Escherichia coli-expressed Plasmodium yoelii merozoite surface protein 4/5 or the C-terminal 19-kDa fragment of merozoite surface protein 1 induced systemic antibody responses and protected mice against lethal malaria infection. A combination of these two proteins administered orally conferred improved protection compared to that conferred by either protein admini...

Antibodies (Abs) are critical for immunity to malaria. However, Plasmodium falciparum specific Abs decline rapidly in absence of reinfection, suggesting impaired immunological memory. This study determines whether residents of Sweden that were treated for malaria following international travel maintained long-lasting malaria-specific Abs and memory B cells (MBCs). We compared levels of malaria-...

This study investigated the genetic diversity of Plasmodium falciparum among asymptomatic pregnant women on intermittent preventive treatment with sulfadoxine-pyrimethamine (IPTp-Sp) in Osogbo, southwest Nigeria. Blood sample was obtained from consenting attending antenatal clinics. Microscopy and Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) were employed to diagnose analyse diversity. Of 301 samples, 53 (1...

Targeted gene disruption has proved to be a powerful approach for studying the function of important ligands involved in erythrocyte invasion by the extracellular merozoite form of the human malaria parasite, Plasmodium falciparum. Merozoite invasion proceeds via a number of seemingly independent alternate pathways, such that entry can proceed with parasites lacking particular ligand-receptor i...

Immunity against blood stage Plasmodium falciparum malaria can be passively transferred with immune gamma globulin (1), and protective antibodies appear to act against the merozoite form of the parasite (2). For vaccine development, therefore, it is important to identify and characterize the surface antigens of merozoites against which protective antibodies may be directed. We have reported the...

The discovery and understanding of antigenic proteins are essential for development of a vaccine against malaria. In Plasmodium falciparum, Pf92 have been characterized as a merozoite surface protein, and this protein is expressed at the late schizont stage, but no study of Pv92, the orthologue of Pf92 in P. vivax, has been reported. Thus, the protein structure of Pv92 was analyzed, and the gen...

Merozoite surface protein 1 (MSP1) is a highly polymorphic Plasmodium falciparum merozoite surface protein implicated in the invasion of human erythrocytes during the asexual cycle. It forms a complex with MSP6 and MSP7 on the merozoite surface, and this complex is released from the parasite around the time of erythrocyte invasion. MSP1 and many other merozoite surface proteins contain dimorphi...

When malaria schizont-infected erythrocytes are cultured with immune serum, antibodies prevent dispersal of merozoites, resulting in the formation of immune clusters of merozoites (ICM) and inhibition of parasite growth. Antigens recognized by these antibodies were identified by probing two dimensional immunoblots of Plasmodium falciparum antigens with antibodies dissociated from immune complex...