Analysing 83 vaccine-induced human monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) against the RIPR malaria protein (which is essential for the parasite to invade red blood cells), the lab study, published in Immunity, showed that single mAbs did not block parasite growth on their own. However, combinations of mAbs were over 90% effective at limiting parasite growth, through ‘team’ attacks on different parts of the RIPR protein’s ‘tail’ – thus deciphering how the proven polyclonal antibodies induced by the vaccine are working.
Dr Barnabas Williams, Senior Postdoctoral Research Associate in the Draper Lab and senior author of the study, said: "Most vaccine research has focused on identifying individual antibodies that can strongly neutralise a pathogen. What we found here is different: the strongest protection comes from antibodies working together in a coordinated way."
RIPR stands for RH5-Interacting Protein. It is a protein expressed by Plasmodium falciparum, the parasite responsible for the most severe form of malaria, and plays a critical role in the parasite’s invasion of human red blood cells.
Read the full story on the Department of Paediatrics website.