Silkworm/Baculovirus Expression System for Production of MSP1 Malaria Vaccine

Category: Biology and Medicine

Reference Number: 00237

Description

Malaria is a tropical disease that annually infects 200 million people in developing countries, with an estimated 2 -2.5 million people, mostly children, that die of this disease. Globally, over one billion people are at risk of contracting malaria infections. Malaria has continued to exert a tremendous toll on the health, social and economic well being of affected countries. Today, most experts agree that an efficacious and cost effective vaccine will be the key to control this dreadful disease.

Researchers at the University of Hawaii (UH) have focused on the development of a blood stage malaria vaccine for the past 10 years. A blood stage vaccine targets the malaria parasites multiplying in the blood stream that are responsible for all of the morbidity and mortality associated with malaria. UH researchers, along with other laboratories, have shown that a blood stage malaria vaccine based on a parasite protein called Merozoite Surface Protein 1, or MSP1, is effective in suppressing infections. The challenge is to produce this vaccine using the most cost effective means possible without compromising the protein’s inherent protective efficacy. In collaboration with The Chinese University of Hong Kong, UH researchers recently produced the MSP1 vaccine using the silkworm/baculovirus expression system. The expressed MSP1 protein retains the immunological and biological properties of the native, parasite MSP1. Moreover, this recombinant MSP1 protein can be produced at a very high level (0.5 mg MSP1 per silkworm). Since silkworms can be easily raised in numbers exceeding hundreds of thousands in China (and in countries such as Japan), gram quantities of this vaccine can be produced very efficiently and at very low costs. This would have the potential of supplying global demand at costs that would be economically feasible for most developing countries.

Applications

Production of malaria vaccine

Main Advantages

• High production output of MSP1
• Efficacy of expressed MSP1 protein
• Low cost malaria vaccine production system

Inventor(s)

George S.N. Hui
Tropical Medicine & Medical Microbiology

Walter K.K. Ho
Lap-yin Pang
Chinese University of Hong Kong

Contact Information

For licensing information, please contact Lisa Matsunaga at matsunag@hawaii.edu

For all other inquiries, please write to:

Office of Technology Transfer & Economic Development
University of Hawai’i
2800 Woodlawn Drive, Suite 280
Honolulu, HI 96822