Quantification of wild-type and radiation attenuated Plasmodium falciparum sporozoite motility in human skin.

ABSTRACT: Given the number of global malaria cases and deaths, the need for a vaccine against Plasmodium falciparum (Pf) remains pressing. Administration of live, radiation-attenuated Pf sporozoites can fully protect malaria-naïve individuals. Despite the fact that motility of these attenuated parasites is key to their infectivity and ultimately protective efficacy, sporozoite motility in human tissue (e.g. skin) remains wholly uncharacterized to date. We show that the ability to quantitatively address the complexity of sporozoite motility in human tissue provides an additional tool in the development of attenuated sporozoite vaccines. We imaged Pf movement in the skin of its natural host and compared wild-type and radiation-attenuated GFP-expressing Pf sporozoites. Using custom image analysis softw

SUBMITTER: Winkel BMF 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6748968 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature