Unravelling the immune signature of Plasmodium falciparum transmission-reducing immunity.
Infection with Plasmodium can elicit antibodies that inhibit parasite survival in the mosquito, when they are ingested in an infectious blood meal. Here, we determine the transmission-reducing activity (TRA) of naturally acquired antibodies from 648 malaria-exposed individuals using lab-based mosquito-feeding assays. Transmission inhibition is significantly associated with antibody responses to Pfs48/45, Pfs230, and to 43 novel gametocyte proteins assessed by protein microarray. In field-based mosquito-feeding assays the likelihood and rate of mosquito infection are significantly lower for individuals reactive to Pfs48/45, Pfs230 or to combinations of the novel TRA-associated proteins. We also show that naturally acquired purified antibodies against key transmission-blocking epitopes of Pfs48/45 and Pfs230 are mechanistically involved in TRA, whereas sera depleted of these antibodies retain high-level, complement-independent TRA. Our analysis demonstrates that host antibody responses to gametocyte proteins are associated with reduced malaria transmission efficiency from humans to mosquitoes.
Item Type | Article |
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ISI | 424451300003 |
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- Department of Infection Biology
- Dept of Infectious Disease Epidemiology
- Dept of Immunology and Infection (-2019)
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- https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5805765 (OA Location)
- 10.1038/s41467-017-02646-2 (DOI)
- 29422648 (PubMed)