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Malaria vaccines–targeting infected hepatocytes

Developing a modern vaccine that is able to duplicate the protective immunity observered after immunization with irradiated P. falciparum (Pf) sporozoites requires identification of antigenic Pf proteins. The identification of Pf Liver Stage Antigen-3 and its ability to protect chimpanzees against sporozoite challenge suggests we are headed in the right direction (pages 1258–1263).

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Figure 1: Proposed mechanism of protective immunity directed against the Plasmodium infected hepatocyte.

Bob Crimi

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Hoffman, S., Doolan, D. Malaria vaccines–targeting infected hepatocytes. Nat Med 6, 1218–1219 (2000). https://doi.org/10.1038/81315

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