Related Experiment Video

Updated: Aug 15, 2026

High Yield Purification of Plasmodium falciparum Merozoites For Use in Opsonizing Antibody Assays
10:38

High Yield Purification of Plasmodium falciparum Merozoites For Use in Opsonizing Antibody Assays

Published on: July 17, 2014

Opinion: antibody-based therapies for malaria

Richard J Pleass1, Anthony A Holder

  • 1Institute of Genetics, School of Biology, University of Nottingham, Nottingham, NG7 2UH, UK. Richard.Pleass@nottingham.ac.uk

Nature Reviews. Microbiology
|November 2, 2005
PubMed

Antibodies are multifunctional glycoproteins that are found in blood and tissue fluids, and can protect against malaria by binding and neutralizing malaria parasites and preparing them for destruction by immune cells. Important technical advances mean that it is now possible to synthesize antibodies against important Plasmodium antigens that could be used for therapeutic purposes. These reagents could be designed to act like a drug and kill parasites directly, or could be used in vaccine strategies to protect individuals from infection. In this article, we discuss the possible therapeutic uses of antibodies in the treatment and prevention of malaria.

More Related Videos

Measuring Naturally Acquired Phagocytosis-Inducing Antibodies to Plasmodium falciparum Parasites by a Flow Cytometry-Based Assay09:57

Measuring Naturally Acquired Phagocytosis-Inducing Antibodies to Plasmodium falciparum Parasites by a Flow Cytometry-Based Assay

Published on: August 6, 2020

In Vitro Assay of Plasmodium-Infected Red Blood Cell Killing by Cytotoxic Lymphocytes08:20

In Vitro Assay of Plasmodium-Infected Red Blood Cell Killing by Cytotoxic Lymphocytes

Published on: August 17, 2022

Related Concept Videos

Malaria01:29

Malaria

Malaria pathogenesis in humans reflects a delicate interplay between parasite biology and host response. Clinical illness reflects a host’s immune response to the parasite’s asexual replication cycle, which is often asymptomatic in individuals with partial immunity. From the parasite's perspective, transmission between mosquito and human with minimal host pathology is evolutionarily advantageous. Among the six Plasmodium species infecting humans, P. falciparum and P. vivax dominate in global...
Antiprotozoal Agents01:21

Antiprotozoal Agents

Leishmaniasis is a widespread parasitic disease caused by several Leishmania species. It affects millions of people each year and remains a major public health problem in endemic regions. First-line treatment relies on pentavalent antimonials, including meglumine antimoniate and sodium stibogluconate. Even so, how these drugs work has not been fully clear, especially their interaction with parasite-specific biochemical pathways. One key target is trypanothione reductase (TR), an enzyme that...
Anthelminthic Agents01:15

Anthelminthic Agents

Anthelmintic drugs differ significantly from antiparasitic therapies targeting protozoa, primarily due to differences in parasite biology. Whereas most protozoal treatments act on proliferating cells, anthelmintics are typically directed against mature, nonproliferative helminths. The therapeutic approach considers the helminth's reliance on neuromuscular coordination, glucose metabolism, and microtubular integrity for survival, reproduction, and localization within the host. Most anthelmintics...
Humoral Immune Responses01:36

Humoral Immune Responses

Overview