Research on Malaria Immunology in Animal Models

Malaria remains a significant cause of morbidity and mortality throughout the world. Although chemotherapeutic strategies to target malaria are effective, long-term protection against malaria can only be realized by the advent of a successful vaccine. The development of a vaccine requires an in-depth knowledge of how the Plasmodium parasites that cause malaria interact with the immune system. Correlating patient immune responses with the infection phenotype in malaria-endemic areas will not achieve this goal in isolation. The implementation of animal models of malaria is necessary to dissect how the immune system responds to Plasmodium, controls the invading parasites and causes pathology in organs where parasites sequester. 

Anti-parasite immunity can be achieved over time with constant exposure to infection in people living in endemic areas. However, this response is not sterilizing and therefore parasites still circulate. Resistance to the development of malarial symptoms despite the presence of Plasmodium infection, often referred to as “clinical immunity”, is also a key player in malaria immunobiology. Both the innate and adaptive arms of the immune system play a role in these processes, but many of the immunological mechanisms mediating anti-malarial immunity are still poorly understood. 

This Special Issue will focus on new and established animal models of Plasmodium infection that can be used to interrogate the immunobiology of malaria. The goal is to provide a collection of articles that will focus on the recent scientific and technical progress made in this field. Based on your extensive knowledge and experience, we invite you to contribute with an original report, original observation or review, to highlight (i) new animal models of malaria, (ii) new insights into the immunobiology of malaria using animal models and (iii) recent advances in novel prophylactic and therapeutic vaccines in animal models of malaria.

Dr. Tracey J. Lamb
Dr. Chester J. Joyner
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Vaccines is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2700 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

• malaria
• Plasmodium infection
• non-human primate models
• mouse models
• immunology
• vaccines
• innate immunity
• adaptive immunity
• anti-parasite immunity
• clinical immunity