Researchers at the Sanger Institute in Cambridge have brought science closer to developing a vaccine for one of the most well known infectious diseases: malaria. The disease is caused by infected mosquitoes carrying the parasite Plasmodium. The parasite multiplies in the human liver and goes on to infect red blood cells, according to the World Health Organization.
Malaria currently afflicts more than 300 million people worldwide, killing about a million people annually. The most advanced vaccine, which is not yet approved, reduces the chances of contracting the disease by half.
Although there are multiple malaria parasites, research has focused on Plasmodium falciparum, as it is the most deadly. The Sanger Institute researchers found that there is an essential link between the protein referred to as "PfRH5," located on the Plasmodium parasite, and "basigin," located on the red blood cells. When this link was disconnected, invasion of the parasite into the red blood cell was blocked. It has become evident that an approved malaria vaccine must have the immune system recognize and attack the "PfRh5" protein on the infected parasite to stop its invasion into the red blood cells. Unchecked, Plasmodium parasite quickly infests the body and begins to reproduce.
Despite the potential this discovery holds for a universal vaccine, there are still challenges ahead, as previous research has shown that even if a parasite is blocked, it will soon find a different way to enter the red blood cells. If a vaccine can be created using this new knowledge of how the Plasmodium parasite infiltrates the human body, however, millions of people could be saved from infection.
-compiled by Claire Hunn
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