Subject(s)
Cerebellar Diseases/diagnosis , Fever/diagnosis , Graft vs Host Disease/diagnosis , Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation/adverse effects , Precursor B-Cell Lymphoblastic Leukemia-Lymphoma/therapy , Cerebellar Diseases/immunology , Cerebellum/diagnostic imaging , Cerebellum/immunology , Female , Fever/immunology , Fluorodeoxyglucose F18/administration & dosage , Graft vs Host Disease/immunology , Humans , Positron Emission Tomography Computed Tomography , Radiopharmaceuticals/administration & dosage , Transplantation, Homologous/adverse effects , Young AdultABSTRACT
The mosquito innate immune response is able to clear the majority of Plasmodium parasites. This immune clearance is controlled by a number of regulatory molecules including serine protease inhibitors (serpins). To determine whether such molecules could represent a novel target for a malaria transmission-blocking vaccine, we vaccinated mice with Anopheles gambiae serpin-2. Antibodies against Anopheles gambiae serpin-2 significantly reduced the infection of a heterologous Anopheles species (Anopheles stephensi) by Plasmodium berghei, however this effect was not observed with Plasmodium falciparum. Therefore, this approach of targeting regulatory molecules of the mosquito immune system may represent a novel approach to transmission-blocking malaria vaccines.
