Structure And Interactions Of A Disordered Malaria Surface Protein: Implications For Antigenicity
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$511,020.00
Summary
Malaria is responsible for around 2 million deaths annually, many in children under 5 years of age. Merozoite surface protein 2 (MSP2) from Plasmodium falciparum is being developed as a vaccine candidate. We will investigate the structure of MSP2 in various environments, including when bound to inhibitory antibodies. Key goals are to understand how the disordered structure of MSP2 affects its interaction with the host immune system and how that information can be used to design better vaccines.
Signalling During Red Blood Cell Invasion By Plasmodium Falciparum
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$357,414.00
Summary
Malaria is one of the world's most devastating infectious diseases and is caused by a parasite called Plasmodium falciparum. AMA1 is a parasite surface protein crucial for blood cell invasion but how it works is not understood. We are investigating if AMA1 plays a role in helping the parasite sense when it has contacted a blood cell and should invade. Discovering how parasites attach to and invade bloods cells is a priority for the development of anti-parasite drugs and vaccines
ANTIGEN PRESENTATION IN CEREBRAL MALARIA PATHOGENESIS: A ROLE FOR BRAIN MICROVASCULAR ENDOTHELIUM AND MICROPARTICLES
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$416,012.00
Summary
We want to better understand how lesions occur in the brain during cerebral malaria. We focus our attention on the cells lining the brain blood vessels, called endothelial cells. The originality of this project is to study endothelial cells as immune cells. We already showed that they carry molecules enabling them to activate T lymphocytes and trigger inflammation. Knowing the fine mechanisms by which small brain vessels become damaged will help design better treatments for neuroinflammation.
Enhancing The Immune Response To Disordered Malaria Antigens
Funder
National Health and Medical Research Council
Funding Amount
$643,739.00
Summary
Half of the worlds population live at risk of malaria, and the disease kills half a million people a year, predominantly young children. Despite recent progress, a vaccine with the efficacy required to help control and ultimately eradicate malaria remains out of reach. This project studies an important class of proteins likely to form part of a future malaria vaccine, and will develop new ways to improve their effectiveness as vaccine components.