Malaria Prevention by New Technology: Vectored Delivery of Antibody Genes

Abstract

Malaria, caused by parasites of the genus Plasmodium, causes between 500,000 and 1,000,000 deaths per year, mostly in sub-Saharan Africa. Malaria additionally poses a significant threat to US service personnel serving in Africa and elsewhere. No satisfactory malaria vaccine exists. Therefore, the long-term objective of the project is to assess the promise of a novel immunization technology termedvectored-immunoprophylaxis (VIP) in inducing immunity to malaria caused by P. falciparum. VIP employs adeno associated virus (AAV) derived vectors to deliver genes encoding protective monoclonal antibodies to animals. Mice transduced by VIP vectors engineered to produce monoclonal antibodies against the P. falciparum circumsporozoite protein (CSP) protect mice from infection by a rodent parasite that expresses P. falciparum CSP. The specific aims of this study are to optimize the VIP system for use in the Aotus nancymaae nonhuman primate model of P. falciparum infection and to assess the efficacy of VIP in protecting Aotus from P. falciparum infection.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Oct 01, 2016
Accession Number
AD1031303

Entities

People

  • Gary Ketner

Organizations

  • Johns Hopkins University

Tags

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Africa
  • Amino Acids
  • Animals
  • Antibodies
  • Biomedical Research
  • Diseases And Disorders
  • Immunity
  • Infection
  • Institutional Review Board
  • Malaria
  • Medical Personnel
  • Parasites
  • Professional Development
  • Saharan Africa
  • Students
  • Vaccines
  • Wound Infections

Fields of Study

  • Biology

Readers

  • Immunology
  • Molecular Genetics
  • Parasitology and Pharmacology of Malaria.

Technology Areas

  • Biotechnology