The broad long term objective of this project is to analyze and understand structurally and functionally the molecular make-up of Plasmodium vivax merozoites. This knowledge will identify and characterize proteins that may serve as important vivax malaria vaccine candidates or targets of anti-malaria drug interventions. Plasmodium vivax is a highly predominant malaria species, causing 80 million cases or more of malaria each year and major socioeconomic public health ramifications worldwide. Nevertheless, P. vivax is under investigated in part because it cannot be cultured reliably long term in vitro. Specialized expertise and non human primate resources are therefore required for in depth laboratory investigations on this human parasite species. Experimental models using P. vivax parasites and the related simian malaria species P. knowlesi and P. cynomolgi in non-human primates are fundamental to this research program. Plasmodium merozoites are very complex and there are many gaps in knowledge regarding the full scope of molecules involved in their adhesion to and entry into red blood cells.
The specific aims of this research are to 1) Identify novel P. vivax genes encoding merozoite proteins with surface, organellar and apical locations, 2) Investigate structural and functional characteristics of P. vivax merozoite surface and apically localized proteins and protein complexes, and 3) Develop a P. vivax model for integrated transfection and reverse genetics investigations. This research capitalizes extensively on the recent availability of Plasmodium genome databases, utilizing bioinformatics, micro-arrays, proteomics, genetic manipulation strategies, high resolution imaging capabilities, functional adhesion and invasion assays, immunochemical methods and cell biological technologies. This research will reveal new P. vivax merozoite proteins, gain a fuller understanding of the structure and coordinated expression of specific merozoite proteins and develop new knowledge on protein complexes, post translational modifications and function. As priorities, this project will also provide reagents for the broader malaria research community and develop a P. vivax blood-stage transcriptome and merozoite proteome, which will be valuable for vivax research specifically, as well as comparative genomics research aimed to distinguish features that are distinctive to the biology of P. vivax or conserved among Plasmodium parasites. Project Narrative Plasmodium vivax is a major species of malaria, which causes an estimated 80 million or greater infections annually in about 60 countries. This project aims to discover and characterize the structure and function of merozoite proteins that facilitate the successful entry of this parasite species into red blood cells, and which can serve as future malaria vaccine or drug targets.

Agency
National Institute of Health (NIH)
Institute
National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID)
Type
Research Project (R01)
Project #
5R01AI024710-22
Application #
8072730
Study Section
Pathogenic Eukaryotes Study Section (PTHE)
Program Officer
MO, Annie X Y
Project Start
1987-03-01
Project End
2013-05-13
Budget Start
2011-06-01
Budget End
2012-05-31
Support Year
22
Fiscal Year
2011
Total Cost
$549,027
Indirect Cost
Name
Emory University
Department
Internal Medicine/Medicine
Type
Schools of Medicine
DUNS #
066469933
City
Atlanta
State
GA
Country
United States
Zip Code
30322
Anderson, D C; Lapp, Stacey A; Barnwell, John W et al. (2017) A large scale Plasmodium vivax- Saimiri boliviensis trophozoite-schizont transition proteome. PLoS One 12:e0182561
Rodrigues-da-Silva, Rodrigo Nunes; Martins da Silva, João Hermínio; Singh, Balwan et al. (2016) In silico Identification and Validation of a Linear and Naturally Immunogenic B-Cell Epitope of the Plasmodium vivax Malaria Vaccine Candidate Merozoite Surface Protein-9. PLoS One 11:e0146951
Anderson, D C; Lapp, Stacey A; Akinyi, Sheila et al. (2015) Plasmodium vivax trophozoite-stage proteomes. J Proteomics 115:157-76
Moreno, Alberto; Cabrera-Mora, Monica; Garcia, Anapatricia et al. (2013) Plasmodium coatneyi in rhesus macaques replicates the multisystemic dysfunction of severe malaria in humans. Infect Immun 81:1889-904
Jiang, Jianlin; Barnwell, John W; Meyer, Esmeralda V S et al. (2013) Plasmodium vivax merozoite surface protein-3 (PvMSP3): expression of an 11 member multigene family in blood-stage parasites. PLoS One 8:e63888
Bitencourt, Amanda R; Vicentin, Elaine C; Jimenez, Maria C et al. (2013) Antigenicity and immunogenicity of Plasmodium vivax merozoite surface protein-3. PLoS One 8:e56061
Galinski, Mary R; Meyer, Esmeralda V S; Barnwell, John W (2013) Plasmodium vivax: modern strategies to study a persistent parasite's life cycle. Adv Parasitol 81:1-26
Akinyi, Sheila; Hanssen, Eric; Meyer, Esmeralda V S et al. (2012) A 95 kDa protein of Plasmodium vivax and P. cynomolgi visualized by three-dimensional tomography in the caveola-vesicle complexes (Schuffner's dots) of infected erythrocytes is a member of the PHIST family. Mol Microbiol 84:816-31
Lima-Junior, J C; Jiang, J; Rodrigues-da-Silva, R N et al. (2011) B cell epitope mapping and characterization of naturally acquired antibodies to the Plasmodium vivax merozoite surface protein-3? (PvMSP-3?) in malaria exposed individuals from Brazilian Amazon. Vaccine 29:1801-11
Lima-Junior, J C; Banic, D M; Tran, T M et al. (2010) Promiscuous T-cell epitopes of Plasmodium merozoite surface protein 9 (PvMSP9) induces IFN-gamma and IL-4 responses in individuals naturally exposed to malaria in the Brazilian Amazon. Vaccine 28:3185-91

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