Journal article
Opsonic phagocytosis of Plasmodium falciparum merozoites: Mechanism in human immunity and a correlate of protection against malaria
FHA Osier, G Feng, MJ Boyle, C Langer, J Zhou, JS Richards, FJ McCallum, L Reiling, A Jaworowski, RF Anders, K Marsh, JG Beeson
BMC Medicine | BMC | Published : 2014
Abstract
Background: An understanding of the mechanisms mediating protective immunity against malaria in humans is currently lacking, but critically important to advance the development of highly efficacious vaccines. Antibodies play a key role in acquired immunity, but the functional basis for their protective effect remains unclear. Furthermore, there is a strong need for immune correlates of protection against malaria to guide vaccine development.Methods: Using a validated assay to measure opsonic phagocytosis of Plasmodium falciparum merozoites, we investigated the potential role of this functional activity in human immunity against clinical episodes of malaria in two independent cohorts (n = 109..
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Grants
Awarded by Wellcome Trust
Funding Acknowledgements
Thanks to all participants in the study, and Moses Mosobo, Brett Lowe, Tabitha Mwangi, and staff at the Kenya Medical Research Institute for technical assistance. This paper is submitted with the permission of the director of KEMRI. This work was supported by the National Health and Medical Research Council of Australia through a Program grant and Senior Research Fellowship to JGB (grant numbers 637406, 637315), an Early Career Fellowship to JSR (grant number 1037722) and an Infrastructure for Research Institutes Support Scheme Grant; the Wellcome Trust, UK, through an Intermediate Level Fellowship to FHAO (grant number 089833); the Australian Research Council through a Future Fellowship Award to JGB (grant number FT0992317), an Australian Postgraduate Award to MJB, and the Victorian State Government Operational Infrastructure Support grant.