Progress in the Development of Subunit Vaccines against Malaria

• Published in: Vaccines (Basel) 2020-07, Vol.8 (3), p.373
• Main Authors: Skwarczynski, Mariusz, Chandrudu, Saranya, Rigau-Planella, Berta, Islam, Md. Tanjir, Cheong, Yee S., Liu, Genan, Wang, Xiumin, Toth, Istvan, Hussein, Waleed M.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adaptive immunity; Antibiotics; Antigens; Clinical trials; Developing countries; Disease; Disease prevention; Drug delivery systems; Drug development; Drug resistance; Drugs; Epitopes; Human populations; Immune response; Immune system; Immunization; Immunosuppressive agents; Infections; Insecticide resistance; Insecticides; LDCs; Lymphocytes B; Malaria; Morbidity; Mortality; Mosquitoes; parasite; Parasite resistance; Parasites; peptide-based vaccine; Peptides; Pesticides; Plasmodium; Proteins; Review; Vaccines; Vector-borne diseases
• ISSN: 2076-393X; 2076-393X
• DOI: 10.3390/vaccines8030373

Malaria is a life-threatening disease and one of the main causes of morbidity and mortality in the human population. The disease also results in a major socio-economic burden. The rapid spread of malaria epidemics in developing countries is exacerbated by the rise in drug-resistant parasites and insecticide-resistant mosquitoes. At present, malaria research is focused mainly on the development of drugs with increased therapeutic effects against Plasmodium parasites. However, a vaccine against the disease is preferable over treatment to achieve long-term control. Trials to develop a safe and effective immunization protocol for the control of malaria have been occurring for decades, and continue on today; still, no effective vaccines are available on the market. Recently, peptide-based vaccines have become an attractive alternative approach. These vaccines utilize short protein fragments to induce immune responses against malaria parasites. Peptide-based vaccines are safer than traditional vaccines, relatively inexpensive to produce, and can be composed of multiple T- and B-cell epitopes integrated into one antigenic formulation. Various combinations, based on antigen choice, peptide epitope modification and delivery mechanism, have resulted in numerous potential malaria vaccines candidates; these are presently being studied in both preclinical and clinical trials. This review describes the current landscape of peptide-based vaccines, and addresses obstacles and opportunities in the production of malaria vaccines.