Evaluation of Pregnancy Malaria Vaccine Candidates: The Binding Inhibition Assay

The parasite-binding inhibition assay is designed to evaluate the acquisition of naturally acquired functional antibodies that block Plasmodium falciparum binding to endothelial or placental receptors. The assay is also used to assess functional activity by antibodies induced by immunization, for example antibodies raised against pregnancy malaria vaccine candidates like VAR2CSA. Here we describe a plate-based assay to measure the levels of adhesion-blocking antibodies. This assay format can be adapted to any lab that is minimally equipped for short-term parasite culture.