Framework programme:

 7

Contract/Grant agreement number:

223736

EC contribution:

2,900,000 €

Duration:

48 months

Funding scheme:

Focused research project

Starting date:

01/12/2008

Project Web site:

http://www.transmalariabloc.org (under construction)

 

 

Keywords: malaria, Anopheles, Plasmodium, transmission blocking, refractory mosquitoes

Background

Malaria is a serious global health problem. Half the world’s population is at high risk of contracting malaria and almost 500 million people are infected every year. Malaria transmission has been eradicated from Europe largely through vector control. However, the health burden greatly affects global economic growth. In addition, more people are travelling in endemic areas and thousands of malaria cases are imported into the EU every year. Although the problem is multifaceted, it is recognised that interventions targeted at the vector stages will be central in the fight against the disease.

Transmission of malaria through its mosquito vector is the weakest link in the chain that maintains the disease cycle: parasite numbers reach their lowest ebb during their early developmental stages in the mosquito. This bottleneck represents a likely point for intervention that could provide transmission blocking.

Aims and expected results

TransMalariaBloc is making a rigorous evaluation of tools and resources for blocking of malaria transmission based on state-of-the-art understanding of parasite and mosquito biology. Its research activities are centred on three key concepts to block parasite transmission, set out below.

• Transmission-blocking TB vaccines, in which antigen-stimulated antibody production in the human host act to block transmission of parasite stages in the vector.
• TB drugs and remedies in which compounds supplied to humans can act to block transmission following uptake during blood feeding by the mosquito.
• TB via immune mosquitoes, in which natural and synthetic refractoriness in the mosquito are utilised to confer transmission blocking. These concept research activities are supported and informed by additional activities that investigate: (a) the diversity of parasite/mosquito genotype interactions, which is crucial to understanding the population dynamics and molecular basis of transmission; (b) the fitness cost and benefits of natural and genetically engineered mosquito immunity to malaria; (c) mathematical modelling of population and evolutionary biology of transmission to predict the effects of the aforementioned TB strategies; and (d) novel targets for interventions including those generated from genomic screens of transcriptional responses and genetic polymorphisms in naturally interacting species.

Current malaria transmission-blocking research relies on the use of parasite/vector laboratory models. The aim of TransMalariaBloc is to make use of state-of-the-art scientific advances in this field and examine their relevance to the transmission of human malaria in field conditions. By taking advanced experimentation from the laboratory to the field and from model to natural transmission systems, it aims to initiate and guide future translational research.

The project is expected to create a fresh environment for innovative research that will assess the feasibility and efficacy of transmission-blocking vaccines, drugs and remedies, and malaria-refractory mosquitoes, parameterise these strategies and model their potential impact on reducing the malaria burden. The project will then assess available transmission -blocking targets and develop alternative ones through field-based studies. Parallel background research in model systems will advance the state-of-the-art in malaria transmission and the biology of vector/parasite interactions.

Potential applications:

TransMalariaBloc represents an ambitious approach to optimising transmission-blocking interventions for malaria control. Spanning from molecular to population and environmental levels, it aims to effectively assess the efficacy and model the impact of transmission-blocking strategies which can be utilised in integrated efforts to control and ultimately eradicate the disease. The knowledge derived from research into population biology, modelling and genotype*genotype interactions will facilitate the optimisation of future clinical applications. As transmission-blocking approaches dealt with by TransMalariaBloc are altruistic in nature, the concepts and analysis of this work in field conditions can be used to promote greater understanding of the nature of this disease and the critical role of local communities in controlling it.

Coordinator:

Dr George K. Christophides
Imperial College London
London
UK
E-mail: g.christophides@imperial.ac.uk

Partners: