A guide to vaccinology: from basic principles to new developments
Oxford University And Brazil Partner To Advance Malaria Vaccine Development
Professor Sue Ann Costa Clemens CBE, Chair of Global Health at the Department of Paediatrics and Head of Oxford Latam Research Group - a collaboration between Oxford and Brazil, aimed at strengthening our commitment to global health - met with His Excellency Antonio Patriota, Brazilian Ambassador to the UK, to discuss the co-development of a Malaria vaccine and advance public health outcomes in Brazil.
Brazil is the first country in the world to announce a government policy to eradicate 14 infectious diseases that disproportionately affect poor communities. One of these is malaria which remains a significant public health problem worldwide, particularly in low-income regions like the Amazon where there is limited access to healthcare. The Ambassador also met Professor Teresa Lambe OBE, Calleva Head of Vaccine Immunology at the Oxford Vaccine Group, Professor Simon Draper, Professor of Vaccinology and Translational Medicine at the Department of Biochemistry, and Dr. Angela Minassian, Honorary Consultant and Chief Investigator on the Malaria Vaccine Programme in the Department of Biochemistry and Oxford Vaccine Group.
Dr Minassian, who is working with Professor Draper on a vaccine for Vivax Malaria, said: "We were delighted to host the Ambassador and to discuss potential plans to partner on development, including clinical testing of a new vaccine against Vivax Malaria. Making a safe and effective vaccine available to resource poor regions, with high disease burden, in the Brazilian Amazon could make a huge public health impact. We hope this goal will now become achievable with the support of this important new partnership".
Professor Clemens CBE said: "This partnership between Oxford University and its Brazilian counterparts marks a significant step forward in the fight against neglected diseases and this visit underscores the united front we present in combating global health threats. By leveraging the expertise and resources from both academia and government, we can advance science, vaccine development and control strategies to protect vulnerable populations and reduce the burden of these diseases."
We were delighted to host the Ambassador and his delegation in Oxford, and excited to discuss the many opportunities to work together. Only through open collaboration, as we did during the COVID-19 pandemic, will we be able to tackle the biggest challenges of the 21st century that we face as a global community."
Professor Teresa Lambe OBE, Calleva Head of Vaccine Immunology at the Oxford Vaccine Group
Ambassador Patriota said: "Touring the Department of Biochemistry at Oxford University and witnessing the groundbreaking research on a malaria vivax vaccine provided a unique and invaluable experience. This endeavor is vital for saving lives not only in Brazil but on a global scale. The dedication and remarkable progress achieved by the researchers are truly commendable. The Embassy of Brazil looks forward to fostering continued collaboration and shared advancements in global health, particularly within leading scientific centers in the United Kingdom."
FDA Approves First Molecular Test To Screen Blood Donors For Malaria
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved the cobas® Malaria, a qualitative PCR test, for use on the cobas® 6800/8800 systems to detect Plasmodium (P. Falciparum, P. Malariae, P. Vivax, P. Ovale and P. Knowlesi) DNA and RNA in whole blood samples from individual human donors, including donors of whole blood and blood components, as well as other living donors.
The cobas Malaria test is also intended for use in testing whole blood samples to screen organ and tissue donors when samples are obtained while the donor's heart is still beating. The test is not intended for use: as an aid in diagnosis of Plasmodium infection; on samples of cord blood; or on cadaveric blood specimens.
The approval was based on data from performance studies which showed that the cobas Malaria test demonstrated 100% clinical sensitivity for P. Falciparum, P. Malariae, P. Vivax, P. Ovale and P. Knowlesi. Moreover, the test demonstrated 100% clinical specificity in a zero-prevalence population.
"As the first FDA-approved blood screening test for malaria, this represents an important step forward in safeguarding the global supply of donated blood," said Matt Sause, CEO of Roche Diagnostics. "The approval of cobas Malaria represents a significant advancement in malaria detection, offering health care professionals a reliable tool for donor screening and improving the safety of patients worldwide."
The cobas Malaria test will be available at the end of the second quarter of 2024.
References:
New Discovery Unravels Malaria Invasion Mechanism
A recent breakthrough sheds light on how the malaria parasite, Plasmodium falciparum, invades human red blood cells. The study, led by the Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute (Swiss TPH) and Griffith University's Institute for Glycomics, reveals the role of a sugar called sialic acid in this invasion process.
The findings, published in Cell Reports, have major implications for malaria vaccine and drug development.
With 249 million cases of malaria and 608,000 deaths in 2022, malaria has remained an intractable global health threat. The malaria parasite Plasmodium falciparum is the leading cause of severe malaria and is responsible for the largest portion of malaria deaths. All clinical symptoms of malaria are caused by the multiplication of malaria parasites in the red blood cells.
Key component found for malaria invasionP. Falciparum is known to invade human red blood cells, but the precise details of the targets that the parasite binds to has not been known to date. Although we know that the malaria protein, cystein-rich protective antigen (CyRPA), is essential for the invasion of red blood cells, its precise role in this process was not understood.
A multidisciplinary, collaborative research team from six institutions, led by investigators at Swiss TPH in Switzerland and Institute for Glycomics in Australia examined the binding properties of CyPRA. The researchers discovered that a sugar called sialic acid is a key component of the red blood cell surface that is recognized by the malaria parasite, and which is essential for the invasion process.
"We are now demonstrating that P. Falciparum CyRPA binds to a specific carbohydrate structure (glycan) present on the red blood cell surface. The CyRPA protein is highly adapted to bind to a glycan terminating with a sialic acid. The discovery of the key function of CyRPA in host cell invasion provides an explanation for the parasite inhibitory activity of CyRPA-specific antibodies," said Gerd Pluschke, Group Leader of Molecular Immunology at Swiss TPH, and co-corresponding author of the publication.
Malaria parasite adapted to humans"Humans differ from other primates because they can only produce one type of sialic acid, called Neu5Ac. This genetic difference between humans and closely related primates has long been proposed to contribute to the species-specific targeting of malaria parasites.
"In this study, we show that the human form of sialic acid, Neu5Ac, is strongly preferred by the human-specific malaria parasite P. Falciparum, and may explain the adaptation of this parasite to humans," said Michael Jennings, Acting Director of the Institute for Glycomics, and co-corresponding author of the paper.
Implications for vaccine and drug developmentVaccines targeting the P. Falciparum pre-erythrocytic stages are registered for use. However, they only show moderate levels of efficacy. There is no registered vaccine against the blood stage of malaria, but there is intensive research on blood stage vaccines. "The discovery of the key function of CyRPA in host cell invasion strongly supports the concept to clinically test CyRPA as a blood stage vaccine target," said Pluschke.
Moreover, as the emergence of drug resistance in the parasites that cause malaria is a major health threat, the study's findings offer hope for new antimalarial drugs that are urgently needed. "The essential binding activity of CyRPA to a specific glycan also validates CyRPA as drug target, and we demonstrate that small molecule inhibitors that interfered with this function can inhibit malaria replication in our study," said Jennings.
More information: Christopher J. Day et al, The essential malaria protein PfCyRPA targets glycans to invade erythrocytes, Cell Reports (2024). DOI: 10.1016/j.Celrep.2024.114012. Www.Cell.Com/cell-reports/pdf/ … -1247(24)00340-1.Pdf
Provided by Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute
Citation: New discovery unravels malaria invasion mechanism (2024, April 3) retrieved 23 April 2024 from https://phys.Org/news/2024-04-discovery-unravels-malaria-invasion-mechanism.Html
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