| Antibodies Against the Amino Terminus Region of Circumsporozoite Protein Prevent the Onset of Malaria |
| Malaria is one of the 5 major diseases of the world and a leading cause of childhood death in sub-Saharan Africa. Furthermore, the economic devastation of the disease is measured in the billions of dollars of lost wages and lowered productivity for the endemic areas of the world. In the US, it is a concern of travelers as well the military having to serve in those parts of the world. To date, there is no vaccine and one is not expected for another decade.
The invention presented here focus... More... |
| Anti-Plasmodium Compositions and Methods of Use |
| This invention describes methods and compositions of peptides that inhibit the binding of Plasmodium falciparum (P. falciparum) to erythrocytes. Malarial parasites enter the red blood cell through several erythrocyte receptors, each being specific for a given species of Plasmodia. For P. falciparum, the erythrocyte binding antigen (EBA-175) is the ligand of the plasmodia merozoites that interacts with the receptor glycophorin A on the surface of red blood cells. In... More... |
| Transmission-Blocking Vaccine Against Malaria (1) |
| A transmission blocking vaccine developed against malaria contains a recombinant virus, which encodes a unique portion of the sexual stage surface antigen of Plasmodium falciparum (referred to as Pfs25), or the Pfs25 protein purified from infected host cells.
Mice inoculated with the recombinant virus developed antibodies capable of blocking transmission of the virus. None of the monoclonal antibodies known to block transmission recognize the reduced Pfs25 antigen. This vaccine, which i... More... |
| Plasmodium vivax and Plasmodium knowlesi Duffy Receptor |
| A useful protein in the development of a potential malaria vaccine has been developed by cloning the gene for the Duffy binding receptor of Plasmodium vivax, a human malaria. Duffy blood group determinants on human erythrocytes are known to be essential for invasion by both the P. vivax and P. knowlesi malaria strains. A candidate malaria vaccine could result from the use of antibodies to the recombinant Duffy receptor binding protein or the receptor protein itself functio... More... |
| Recombinant DNA Clone Containing a Genomic Fragment of PfHRP-II Gene from Plasmodium falciparum |
| A fragment of the PfHRP-II gene of Plasmodium falciparum was cloned using recombinant DNA techniques. This clone is capable of encoding PfHRP-II protein, a water-soluble, histidine-rich molecule that may be effective in the detection, diagnosis, and treatment of human malaria, which is caused by the parasite, P. falciparum. This protein may be particularly useful in the development of an anti-malaria vaccine. To date, no malaria vaccine has been successful in human trials and most exhibit onl... More... |
| Collagen-Induced Platelet Aggregation Inhibitor from Mosquito Salivary Glands |
Exposed collagen in injured blood vessels provides a substrate for platelets to adhere and aggregate initiating the first step in thrombosis, the formation of blood clots inside a blood vessel. Despite the essential role of platelets in vascular injury, excessive platelet aggregation may also result in thrombotic diseases such as stroke and heart attack.
Available for licensing is a collagen binding protein, named aegyptin, which selectively inhibits collagen-platelet aggregation,... More... |
| A Novel Treatment for Malarial Infections |
| The inventions described herein are antimalarial small molecule inhibitors of the plasmodial surface anion channel (PSAC), an essential nutrient acquisition ion channel expressed on human erythrocytes infected with malaria parasites. These inhibitors were discovered by high-throughput screening of chemical libraries and analysis of their ability to kill malaria parasites in culture. Two separate classes of inhibitors were found to work synergistically in combination against PSAC and killed mal... More... |
| Anti-Plasmodium Compositions and Methods of Use |
The present invention comprises peptides/antibodies specific for the binding proteins of Plasmodium, a parasite responsible for malaria, hence in effect blocking the parasite’s binding to the erythrocytes. Also included are methods for their use in preventing, diagnosing or treating the related infections.
Although malaria is virtually eradicated in the United States, it continues to be one of the most serious infectious diseases in the world, killing millions of people each yea... More... |
| Sialostatin Mediation Controls Blood-feeding Success of the Tick Ixodes scapularis |
This invention offers an environmentally friendly alternative to existing acaricides (pesticides), and relates to vaccines against tick bites and the pathogens that the ticks may transmit.
Bites from the nymphal stage of Ixodes scapularis are associated with Lyme disease transmission in disease-endemic areas of central and eastern US. Ixodes scapularis nymphs are the key vector stage implicated in Lyme disease transmission, mainly due to their small size that makes timel... More... |
| Treatment of Schistosomiasis Using Substituted Oxadiazole 2-Oxides |
Available for licensing and commercial development are pharmaceutical compositions and methods for the treatment of Schistosomiasis in mammals. The various compositions are based on a number of compounds derived from 1,2,5-oxadiazole that are potent inhibitors of thioredoxin glutathione reductase (TGR), a critical parasite redox protein.
Schistosomiasis is a chronic disease caused by trematode flatworms of the genus Schistosoma, including S. mansoni, S. japonicum... More... |
| Vaccines Against Malarial Diseases |
| The invention offered for licensing is in the field of use of vaccines for malaria. The invention provides gene sequences encoding an erythrocyte binding protein of a malaria pathogen for the expression of the erythrocyte binding protein. The codon composition of the synthetic gene sequences approximates the mammalian codon composition. The synthetic gene sequences are useful for incorporation into DNA vaccine vectors, for the incorporation into various expression vectors for production of malar... More... |
| Erythroid Progenitor Cell Line for Hematological Disease Applications |
| Plasmodium vivax (malaria) is a significant health concern in many parts of Asia, Latin America, North Africa, and the Middle East. There is a lack of continuous culture systems for this pathogen. The subject technology is an erythroid progenitor continuous cell line (termed CD36E) identified by erythroid markers CD36, CD33, CD44, CD71, CD235, and globoside. These CD36E cells are heterozygous for Fya and Fyb (Duffy antigen). Due to recent evidence that Plasmodium vivax (P. v... More... |
| Compounds That Treat Malaria and Prevent Malaria Transmission |
| The invention offered for licensing relates to therapeutic compounds and related pharmaceutical compositions that can be used in the prevention and treatment of malaria infection. More specifically, the invention is drawn to compounds that can kill malaria gametocytes to block malaria transmission and treat malaria infection in the non-erthtrocytic stages, as well as therapeutic uses of these molecules to prevent or slow the transmission of plasmodium organisms between mammals and elimina... More... |
| Antimalarial Inhibitors that Target the Plasmodial Surface Anion Channel (PSAC) Protein and Development of the PSAC Protein as Vaccine Targets |
| There are two related technologies, the first being small molecule inhibitors of the malarial plasmodial surface anion channel (PSAC) and the second being the PSAC protein itself as a vaccine candidate. The PSAC protein is produced by the malaria parasite within host erythrocytes and is crucial for mediating nutrient uptake. In vitro data show that the PSAC inhibitors are able to inhibit growth of malaria parasites, have high specificity, and low toxicity. Portions of the PSAC protein are fou... More... |
| Transmission-Blocking Malaria Vaccine |
There is no vaccine for malaria, and there is growing resistance to existing anti-malarial drugs. Sexual stage-specific antigens are of interest as vaccine candidates because disruption of these antigens would reduce the fertility and, thus, the infectivity of the parasite.
This invention claims methods and compositions for delivering a Plasmodium P47 vaccine or antibody to P47 to prevent Plasmodium falciparum or Plasmodium vivax malaria. P47 and other a... More... |