About this Research Topic
Human malaria caused by Plasmodium parasites causes a significant global health burden. Despite recent progress in reducing the number of cases and deaths globally, the decrease in case numbers has plateaued in recent years. The emerging drug resistance against our last line of defense (Artemisinin and its derivatives), as well as rising insecticide resistance, make the development of new tools and interventions an urgent need. To establish an infection in the mosquito vector for on-going malaria transmission, a small proportion of asexual parasites that cause disease in the human host has to commit to the development into transmissible stages. These gametocytes are taken up by the mosquito during a blood meal. The process of commitment to sexual development, transmission to and subsequent further differentiation within the mosquito is a critical bottleneck in the parasite life cycle and offers great potential for new targeted interventions to block parasite transmission from humans to mosquitoes to aid the elimination of malaria.
New intervention strategies that potentially block parasite transmission could target several distinct junctions in the developmental path from the asexual merozoite stage to the transmissible gametocyte stage and the sexual stages that develop within the mosquito midgut. For the advancement of targeted drug development against the transmissible stages within the human host, a clearer understanding of the developmental processes that lead to gametocytogenesis and the identification of suitable drug targets is needed. The WHO malaria Vaccine Roadmap strongly supports the prioritization of the development of a transmission-blocking vaccine, and therefore current knowledge gaps regarding the acquisition of immunity to transmission stages need to be addressed. Despite exciting recent progress in the development of new platforms like the Human Volunteer Malaria Infection Model that allows the assessment of transmission potential, correlates of protection are currently unavailable, and knowledge about targets of protective antibodies is scarce.
For this research topic, we aim to provide important new insights into gametocyte biology and on the identification of new strategies to interrupt transmission. This includes but is not limited to:
Original research articles, reviews and mini-reviews, and method reports are welcome for this Research Topic.
Keywords: Malaria, Plasmodium, Gametocyte, Sexual commitment, Transmission, Transmission blocking immunity, Transmission blocking interventions
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