Imperial College London
Alternate

Professor George K. Christophides

Faculty of Natural Sciences, Department of Life Sciences

Professor of Infectious Diseases & Immunity
 
 
 
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Contact

 

+44 (0)20 7594 5342g.christophides

 
 
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Location

 

6165Sir Alexander Fleming BuildingSouth Kensington Campus

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Summary

 

Publications

Citation

BibTex format

@article{Habtewold:2019:10.1186/s12936-019-2663-8,
author = {Habtewold, T and Tapanelli, S and Ellen, KG M and Astrid, H and Nikolai, W and George, K C},
doi = {10.1186/s12936-019-2663-8},
journal = {Malaria Journal},
title = {Streamlined SMFA and mosquito dark-feeding regime significantly improve malaria transmission-blocking assay robustness and sensitivity},
url = {http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/s12936-019-2663-8},
volume = {18},
year = {2019}
}
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RIS format (EndNote, RefMan)

TY  - JOUR
AB  - BackgroundThe development of malaria transmission-blocking strategies including the generation of malaria refractory mosquitoes to replace the wild populations through means of gene drives hold great promise. The standard membrane feeding assay (SMFA) that involves mosquito feeding on parasitized blood through an artificial membrane system is a vital tool for evaluating the efficacy of transmission-blocking interventions. However, despite the availability of several published protocols, the SMFA remains highly variable and broadly insensitive.MethodsThe SMFA protocol was optimized through coordinated culturing of Anopheles coluzzii mosquitoes and Plasmodium falciparum parasite coupled with placing mosquitoes under a strict dark regime before, during, and after the gametocyte feed.ResultsA detailed description of essential steps is provided toward synchronized generation of highly fit An. coluzzii mosquitoes and P. falciparum gametocytes in preparation for an SMFA. A dark-infection regime that emulates the natural vector-parasite interaction system is described, which results in a significant increase in the infection intensity and prevalence. Using this optimal SMFA pipeline, a series of putative transmission-blocking antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) were screened, confirming that melittin and magainin can interfere with P. falciparum development in the vector.ConclusionA robust SMFA protocol that enhances the evaluation of interventions targeting human malaria transmission in laboratory setting is reported. Melittin and magainin are identified as highly potent antiparasitic AMPs that can be used for the generation of refractory Anopheles gambiae mosquitoes.
AU  - Habtewold,T
AU  - Tapanelli,S
AU  - Ellen,KG M
AU  - Astrid,H
AU  - Nikolai,W
AU  - George,K C
DO  - 10.1186/s12936-019-2663-8
PY  - 2019///
SN  - 1475-2875
TI  - Streamlined SMFA and mosquito dark-feeding regime significantly improve malaria transmission-blocking assay robustness and sensitivity
T2  - Malaria Journal
UR  - http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/s12936-019-2663-8
UR  - http://hdl.handle.net/10044/1/67187
VL  - 18
ER  -
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