Brancucci Nicolas M B, Gumpp Christin, van Gemert Geert-Jan, Yu Xiao, Passecker Armin, Nardella Flore, Thommen Basil T, Chambon Marc, Turcatti Gerardo, Halby Ludovic, Blasco Benjamin, Duffey Maëlle, Arimondo Paola B, Bousema Teun, Scherf Artur, Leroy Didier, Kooij Taco W A, Rottmann Matthias, Voss Till S
Department of Medical Parasitology and Infection Biology, Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute, 4123, Allschwil, Switzerland.
University of Basel, 4001, Basel, Switzerland.
Nat Commun. 2025 Jul 25;16(1):6884. doi: 10.1038/s41467-025-62014-3.
Elimination of malaria will require new drugs with potent activity against Plasmodium falciparum mature stage V gametocytes, the only stages infective to the mosquito vector. The identification and comprehensive validation of molecules active against these quiescent stages is difficult due to the specific biology of gametocytes, challenges linked to their cultivation in vitro and the lack of animal models suitable for evaluating the transmission-blocking potential of drug candidates in vivo. Here, we present a transmission-blocking drug discovery and development platform that builds on transgenic NF54/iGP1_RE9H parasites engineered to conditionally produce large numbers of stage V gametocytes expressing a red-shifted firefly luciferase viability reporter. Besides developing a robust in vitro screening assay for the reliable identification of stage V gametocytocidal compounds, we also establish a preclinical in vivo malaria transmission model based on infecting female humanized NODscidIL2Rγ mice with pure NF54/iGP1_RE9H stage V gametocytes. Using whole animal bioluminescence imaging, we assess the in vivo gametocyte killing and clearance kinetics of antimalarial reference drugs and clinical drug candidates and identify markedly different pharmacodynamic response profiles. Finally, we combine this mouse model with mosquito feeding assays and thus firmly establish a valuable tool for the systematic in vivo evaluation of transmission-blocking drug efficacy.
消除疟疾需要研发新型药物,这些药物要对恶性疟原虫成熟的V期配子体具有强大活性,因为只有这些阶段的配子体才能感染蚊媒。由于配子体具有特殊生物学特性、体外培养存在挑战以及缺乏适合在体内评估候选药物传播阻断潜力的动物模型,所以很难鉴定和全面验证对这些静止阶段有活性的分子。在此,我们展示了一个传播阻断药物发现与开发平台,该平台基于转基因NF54/iGP1_RE9H寄生虫构建,经工程改造可条件性产生大量表达红移萤火虫荧光素酶活力报告基因的V期配子体。除了开发一种可靠鉴定V期配子体杀灭化合物的强大体外筛选试验外,我们还基于用纯NF54/iGP1_RE9H V期配子体感染雌性人源化NODscidIL2Rγ小鼠建立了一种临床前体内疟疾传播模型。利用全动物生物发光成像技术,我们评估了抗疟参考药物和临床候选药物在体内的配子体杀灭和清除动力学,并确定了明显不同的药效学反应谱。最后,我们将这种小鼠模型与蚊虫叮咬试验相结合,从而牢固建立了一种用于系统体内评估传播阻断药物疗效的宝贵工具。
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