Malaria is a tropical parasitic disease that has been a significant health threat over the years. Each year, approximately 500 million people become infected and 1 to 2 million die worldwide, with the majority of cases occurring in Africa. At this time, there is a great need to control the spread of this disease. The development of malaria vaccines has focused on the use of recombinant proteins to overcome the limitations of conventional vaccines. The goal of the proposed research is to produce a highly immunogenic recombinant subunit that can be used to formulate a vaccine against malaria. Phase I research will test the feasibility of utilizing a eukaryotic cell system to express and secrete a recombinant merozoite surface protein subunit, p42, that has a native- like confirmation. Previous attempts to express the p42 subunit resulted in low levels of expression. The expression system proposed for this research has been shown to express high levels of recombinant proteins. Use of this system for expression of malaria proteins could contribute to the development of a safe, efficacious and cost effective vaccine.
Malaria poses a significant health threat. Annually, approximately 500 million people become nfected and 1 to 2 million die. Currently, there is no vaccine for malaria. The proposed research will express and secret a malaria subunit targeted for vaccine development. Successful expression of high levels of this subunit could contribute to the development of a safe, efficacious and cost effective malaria vaccine.
