What is it about?
We show that human antibodies, generated by the immune response to malaria infection, recruit complement proteins in serum to fight malaria infection. Antibodies interaction with complement to activate complement and this leads to killing of sporozoites, which are the forms inoculated into people when a mosquito bites. The combination of antibodies and complement also inhibits the motility and cell invasion abilities of sporozoites which are crucial for malaria to establish infection. We show that some children naturally exposed to malaria acquire potent antibodies to sporozoites that interact with complement, and these antibodies are associated with protection from malaria
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Why is it important?
Antibodies targeting Plasmodium falciparum sporozoites play a key role in human immunity to malaria. However, antibody mechanisms that neutralize sporozoites are poorly understood. This has been a major constraint in developing highly efficacious vaccines, as we lack strong correlates of protective immunity.
Perspectives
These novel findings point to complement activation by antibodies as an important mechanism of anti-sporozoite human immunity, thereby enabling new strategies for developing highly efficacious malaria vaccines. The findings also suggest that complement-fixing antibodies may be a valuable correlate of protective immunity in humans. Future research will investigate how well these antibodies are generated by current malaria vaccines in development, what strategies could be used to induce this mechanism more effectively, and whether developing vaccines with this functional activity will give better protection and longer lasting immunity
James Beeson
Burnet Institute
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: Human antibodies activate complement against Plasmodium falciparum sporozoites, and are associated with protection against malaria in children, BMC Medicine, April 2018, Springer Science + Business Media,
DOI: 10.1186/s12916-018-1054-2.
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