Parasitologie

Leiden Malaria Research Group

Our studies are aimed at developing interventions against human malaria; both by examining and manipulating the human malaria-parasite Plasmodium falciparum, and by exploiting rodent models of malaria parasites (Plasmodium berghei, P. yoelii). This research, embedded in the research themes ‘Infection’ and ‘Immunity’ of the Department is performed under supervision of Dr. Chris J. Janse and Dr. Blandine Franke-Fayard.

Main research themes

  • Development of a malaria vaccine based on genetically attenuated parasites (GAP vaccine) 
  • Identification and analysis of parasite proteins that are (putative) targets for subunit vaccines
  • Identification and analysis of parasite proteins that are (putative) targets for drugs
  • Analysis of parasite-host interactions involved in pathology and disease

Main research themes

  • Development of a malaria vaccine based on genetically attenuated parasites (GAP vaccine) 
  • Identification and analysis of parasite proteins that are (putative) targets for subunit vaccines
  • Identification and analysis of parasite proteins that are (putative) targets for drugs
  • Analysis of parasite-host interactions involved in pathology and disease

We provide the following resources and expertise

  • Protocols and databases related to rodent and human malaria parasites
  • Plasmids for genetic modification of rodent and human malaria parasites
  • Transgenic and mutant parasite lines (rodent and human malaria parasites)
  • Support in generation and characterization of transgenic and mutant parasites
  • A database containing information on genetically modified rodent parasite lines: see www.pberghei.eu.

Please contact Dr. Chris J. Janse (https://pberghei.nl/) or Dr. Blandine Franke-Fayard (b.franke-fayard@lumc.nl) for information on protocols, plasmids and transgenic/mutant.

Publications

Genome-Scale Identification of Essential Metabolic Processes for Targeting the Plasmodium Liver Stage. Stanway RR, Bushell E, Chiappino-Pepe A, Roques M, Sanderson T, Franke-Fayard B, Caldelari R, Golomingi M, Nyonda M, Pandey V, Schwach F, Chevalley S, Ramesar J, Metcalf T, Herd C, Burda PC, Rayner JC, Soldati-Favre D, Janse CJ, Hatzimanikatis V, Billker O, Heussler VT. Cell. 2019 Nov 14;179(5):1112-1128 PMID: 31730853
Monocyte-Derived CD11c(+) Cells Acquire Plasmodium from Hepatocytes to Prime CD8 T Cell Immunity to Liver-Stage Malaria. Kurup SP, Anthony SM, Hancox LS, Vijay R, Pewe LL, Moioffer SJ, Sompallae R, Janse CJ, Khan SM, Harty JT. Cell Host Microbe. 2019 Apr 10;25(4):565-577 PMID: 30905437
Prime and target immunization protects against liver-stage malaria in mice. Gola A, Silman D, Walters AA, Sridhar S, Uderhardt S, Salman AM, Halbroth BR, Bellamy D, Bowyer G, Powlson J, Baker M, Venkatraman N, Poulton I, Berrie E, Roberts R, Lawrie AM, Angus B, Khan SM, Janse CJ, Ewer KJ, Germain RN, Spencer AJ, Hill AVS. Sci Transl Med. 2018 Sep 26;10(460):eaap9128. PMID: 30257955
A Plasmodium berghei sporozoite-based vaccination platform against human malaria. Mendes AM, Machado M, Gonçalves-Rosa N, Reuling IJ, Foquet L, Marques C, Salman AM, Yang ASP, Moser KA, Dwivedi A, Hermsen CC, Jiménez-Díaz B, Viera S, Santos JM, Albuquerque I, Bhatia SN, Bial J, Angulo-Barturen I, Silva JC, Leroux-Roels G, Janse CJ, Khan SM, Mota MM, Sauerwein RW, Prudêncio M. NPJ Vaccines. 2018 Aug 24;3:33. PMID: 30155278
The use of transgenic parasites in malaria vaccine research. Othman AS, Marin-Mogollon C, Salman AM, Franke-Fayard BM, Janse CJ, Khan SM. Expert Rev Vaccines. 2017 Jul;16(7):1-13. PMID: 28525963
Rapid Generation of Marker-Free P. falciparum Fluorescent Reporter Lines Using Modified CRISPR/Cas9 Constructs and Selection Protocol. Mogollon CM, van Pul FJ, Imai T, Ramesar J, Chevalley-Maurel S, de Roo GM, Veld SA, Kroeze H, Franke-Fayard BM, Janse CJ, Khan SM. PLoS One. 2016 Dec 20;11(12):e0168362. PMID: 27997583
Variant Exported Blood-Stage Proteins Encoded by Plasmodium Multigene Families Are Expressed in Liver Stages Where They Are Exported into the Parasitophorous Vacuole. Fougère A, Jackson AP, Bechtsi DP, Braks JA, Annoura T, Fonager J, Spaccapelo R, Ramesar J, Chevalley-Maurel S, Klop O, van der Laan AM, Tanke HJ, Kocken CH, Pasini EM, Khan SM, Böhme U, van Ooij C, Otto TD, Janse CJ, Franke-Fayard B. PLoS Pathog. 2016 Nov 16;12(11):e1005917. PMID: 27851824

Team members

  • Dr. Chris J Janse (PI)
  • Dr. Blandine M.D. Franke-Fayard (PI)
  • Dr. Gopal Murugan (PI)
  • Ing. Séverine Chevalley (Research technician)
  • Ing. Fiona Geurten (Research technician)
  • Ing. Jai Ramesar (Research technician)
  • Ing. Johannes Kroeze (Research technician)