malERA: An updated research agenda for basic science and enabling technologies in malaria elimination and eradication

Abstract

Basic science holds enormous power for revealing the biological mechanisms of disease and, in turn, paving the way toward new, effective interventions. Recognizing this power, the 2011 Research Agenda for Malaria Eradication included key priorities in fundamental research that, if attained, could help accelerate progress toward disease elimination and eradication. The Malaria Eradication Research Agenda (malERA) Consultative Panel on Basic Science and Enabling Technologies reviewed the progress, continuing challenges, and major opportunities for future research. The recommendations come from a literature of published and unpublished materials and the deliberations of the malERA Refresh Consultative Panel. These areas span multiple aspects of the Plasmodium life cycle in both the human host and the Anopheles vector and include critical, unanswered questions about parasite transmission, human infection in the liver, asexual-stage biology, and malaria persistence. We believe an integrated approach encompassing human immunology, parasitology, and entomology, and harnessing new and emerging biomedical technologies offers the best path toward addressing these questions and, ultimately, lowering the worldwide burden of malaria.

Covalent Inhibitors of Plasmodium falciparum Glyceraldehyde 3-Phosphate Dehydrogenase with Antimalarial Activity in Vitro

“…Efforts to control malaria have been hampered by the lack of an effective vaccine, by the constant resurgence of drug-resistant parasites and by the development of insecticide resistance by mosquito vectors. Therefore, novel therapeutic targets and drugs are urgently needed …”

Transdisciplinary and social-ecological health frameworks—Novel approaches to emerging parasitic and vector-borne diseases

“…Efficient prevention of malaria and other mosquito-borne diseases requires prevention of transport of mosquitoes and pathogens to new areas including with human migrations, informed landscape and household management, counteracting climate change, and intervening at the levels of the parasite, mosquito, and vertebrate host (The malERA Refresh Consultative Panel on Basic Science and Enabling Technologies, 2017). To counteract development of resistant strains of mosquitoes and Plasmodium and protect human and animal health, research should investigate better: treatments for malaria; adulticides, larvicides and landscape management to control mosquitoes; protection of native organisms that compete with and eat larval mosquitoes; and vaccines.…”

NPC1161B, an 8-Aminoquinoline Analog, Is Metabolized in the Mosquito and Inhibits Plasmodium falciparum Oocyst Maturation

“…Transmission-blocking drugs are an essential weapon in the fight to eliminate and eradicate malaria (The malERA Refresh Consultative Panel On Basic Science And Enabling Technologies, 2017). Previous work has established the direct antimalarial effects of NPC1161B through its ability to prevent P. falciparum exflagellation and subsequent oocyst development when added directly to gametocytemic blood (Delves et al, 2012).…”