Evidence map›Paper›PMID 39971939›Full record

ArticleNPJ vaccines2025

iDC-targeting PfCSP mRNA vaccine confers superior protection against Plasmodium compared to conventional mRNA.

Sean Yanik, Varsha Venkatesh, James T Gordy, Mohamad-Gabriel Alameh, Jacob Meza, Yangchen Li, Elizabeth Glass, Yevel Flores-Garcia, Ying Tam, Nattawat Chaiyawong and 4 more

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Article in NPJ vaccines, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 6 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
6citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

6 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Review
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  5. Article
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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

14 authors.

Sean Yanik *Department of Molecular Microbiology and Immunology, Johns Hopkins School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD, USA.
Varsha Venkatesh *Department of Molecular Microbiology and Immunology, Johns Hopkins School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD, USA.
James T GordyDepartment of Molecular Microbiology and Immunology, Johns Hopkins School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD, USA.
Mohamad-Gabriel AlamehPenn Institute for RNA Innovation, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-5672-6930
Jacob MezaDepartment of Molecular Microbiology and Immunology, Johns Hopkins School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD, USA.
Yangchen LiDepartment of Molecular Microbiology and Immunology, Johns Hopkins School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD, USA.
Elizabeth GlassDepartment of Molecular Microbiology and Immunology, Johns Hopkins School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD, USA.
Yevel Flores-GarciaDepartment of Molecular Microbiology and Immunology, Johns Hopkins School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD, USA.
Ying TamAcuitas Therapeutics, Vancouver, BC, Canada.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-4083-5251
Nattawat ChaiyawongDepartment of Molecular Microbiology and Immunology, Johns Hopkins School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD, USA.
Deepti SarkarDepartment of Molecular Microbiology and Immunology, Johns Hopkins School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD, USA.
Drew WeissmanPenn Institute for RNA Innovation, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, USA.
Richard MarkhamDepartment of Molecular Microbiology and Immunology, Johns Hopkins School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD, USA.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0003-3527-9147
Prakash SrinivasanDepartment of Molecular Microbiology and Immunology, Johns Hopkins School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD, USA. psriniv3@jhu.edu.ORCID http://orcid.org/0009-0007-8370-0553

Funding

Developing a multi-component vaccine harnessing potent antibody and cellular responses against the blood-stage of Plasmodium falciparumR01AI155598 · NIAID · JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY · PI SRINIVASAN, PRAKASH, STANISIC, DANIELLE · 2022 to 2025
$2.8M
Malaria and Mosquito/Tick-borne DiseasesT32AI138953 · NIAID · JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY · PI DAVID Joseph SULLIVAN · 2019 to 2026
$2.0M
NIAID NIH HHS R01 AI155598NIAID NIH HHS T32 AI138953U.S. Department of Health & Human Services | NIH | Center for Scientific Review (NIH Center for Scientific Review) R01AI155598
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Malaria resurgence in 2022 saw 249 million clinical cases and 608,000 deaths, mostly in children under five. The WHO-approved circumsporozoite protein (CSP)-targeting vaccines, RTS,S and R21, remain limited in availability. Strong humoral responses are crucial for sporozoite neutralization before hepatocyte infection, yet first-generation vaccines provide suboptimal protection, necessitating improved strategies. With the success of mRNA-LNP vaccines against COVID-19, there is interest in leveraging this approach to malaria. Here, we developed a novel chemokine fusion mRNA vaccine targeting immature dendritic cells (iDC) to enhance immunity against P. falciparum CSP (PfCSP). Mice immunized with MIP3α-CSP mRNA-LNP exhibited stronger CD4 + T cell responses and higher anti-NANP6 antibody titers than conventional CSP mRNA-LNP. Importantly, upon P. berghei PfCSP transgenic sporozoite challenge, MIP3α-CSP mRNA provided significantly greater protection from liver infection, strongly associated with multifunctional CD4 + T cells and anti-NANP6 titers. This study underscores iDC targeting as a promising strategy to enhance malaria vaccine efficacy.

Identifiers

PMID39971939
PMCPMC11840135

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.