Malaria is an important tropical infection which urgently requires intervention of an effective vaccine. Antigenic variations of the parasite and allelic diversity of the host are main problems in the development of an effective malaria vaccine. Cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTL) directed against Plasmodium falciparum-derived antigens are shown to play an important role for the protection against ma...

The human malaria is widely distributed in the Middle East, Asia, the western Pacific, and Central and South America. Plasmodium vivax started to have the attention of many researchers since it is causing diseases to millions of people and several reports of severe malaria cases have been noticed in the last few years. The lack of in vitro cultures for P. vivax represents a major delay in devel...

BACKGROUND A vaccine targeting Plasmodium vivax will be an essential component of any comprehensive malaria elimination program, but major gaps in our understanding of P. vivax biology, including the protein-protein interactions that mediate merozoite invasion of reticulocytes, hinder the search for candidate antigens. Only one ligand-receptor interaction has been identified, that between P. vi...

Four variants of merozoite surface protein 2 (MSP-2) of Plasmodium falciparum were used in serology to examine whether changes in repeat units affect its recognition by antibodies during infection with parasites of known MSP-2 types. The results indicate that variation in MSP-2 repeats may represent a mechanism for parasite immune evasion.

Antibodies to merozoite surface antigens (MSPs), the primary targets of malaria vaccine research, are associated with low morbidity. However, few studies have looked at implications their variations on evolution clinical-biological forms severe malaria.

Immunization with Plasmodium yoelii merozoite surface protein (PyMSP)-8 protects mice from lethal malaria but does not prevent infection. Using this merozoite surface protein-based vaccine model, we investigated vaccine- and infection-induced immune responses that contribute to protection. Analysis of prechallenge sera from rPyMSP-8-immunized C57BL/6 and BALB/c mice revealed high and comparable...