The apical membrane antigen 1 (AMA1), a crucial protein for the invasion of Plasmodium merozoites into red blood cells, is a leading malaria vaccine candidate, but has shown little efficacy in clinical trials so far. Here, the authors show that vaccination with a complex of AMA1 and rhoptry neck protein 2 (RON2) can induce antibody-mediated complete protection against a lethal Plasmodium yoelii challenge in mice. It is likely that the protein complex mimics the functional form of the proteins more closely, thereby inducing more potent protective antibodies.
References
Srinivasan, P. et al. Immunization with a functional protein complex required for erythrocyte invasion protects against lethal malaria. Proc. Natl Acad. Sci. USA 111, 10311–10316 (2014)
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Flemming, A. Complete protection with AMA1–RON2 complex?. Nat Rev Drug Discov 13, 654 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1038/nrd4429
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nrd4429