{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,11,4]],"date-time":"2026-11-04T23:44:11Z","timestamp":1793835851773,"version":"4.6.1"},"reference-count":49,"publisher":"Frontiers Media SA","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,16]],"date-time":"2026-09-16T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1789516800000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["frontiersin.org"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["Front. Immunol."],"abstract":"<jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Introduction<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>\n                      Malaria is a leading health problem with high disease burden and mortality rates worldwide. Currently approved vaccines target the sporozoite form of\n                      <jats:italic>Plasmodium falciparum<\/jats:italic>\n                      that initially infects the liver, but only provide modest protection against malaria in young children. There is an urgent need to develop next-generation malaria vaccines that target multiple parasite developmental stages for greater efficacy. Antibodies to merozoites, which are involved in blood-stage replication, and are associated with clinical illness, have multiple functional activities and can protect against malaria. A promising merozoite vaccine candidate is Merozoite Surface Protein 2 (\n                      <jats:italic>Pf<\/jats:italic>\n                      MSP2). Antibodies to\n                      <jats:italic>Pf<\/jats:italic>\n                      MSP2 can promote multiple antibody Fc-mediated functional activities to clear merozoites.\n                    <\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Methods<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>\n                      We developed and evaluated monovalent and bivalent (3D7 and FC27 variants)\n                      <jats:italic>Pf<\/jats:italic>\n                      MSP2-based mRNA vaccines. We designed and Codon-optimised mRNA, which was validated for\n                      <jats:italic>in vitro<\/jats:italic>\n                      expression in mammalian cells, and subsequently formulated as lipid nanoparticles for vaccination of mice in a 3-dose regimen. Vaccination with recombinant\n                      <jats:italic>Pf<\/jats:italic>\n                      MSP2 protein with adjuvant was performed for comparison. We evaluated the induction of antibodies and functional activities relevant to protective immunity.\n                    <\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Results<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>\n                      mRNA vaccines induced prominent IgG responses using monovalent (3D7 allele) and bivalent (3D7 and FC27 alleles) vaccines encoding near full-length\n                      <jats:italic>Pf<\/jats:italic>\n                      MSP2, and antibodies recognised the surface of whole merozoites. Vaccine responses were equivalent to, or superior to, a recombinant protein-based\n                      <jats:italic>Pf<\/jats:italic>\n                      MSP2 vaccine. The bivalent vaccine induced equivalent antibodies to the two\n                      <jats:italic>Pf<\/jats:italic>\n                      MSP2 alleles. Vaccination induced cytophilic IgG subclasses with multiple functional activities, including complement fixation, binding of human Fc\u03b3-receptors I and IIa, and opsonic phagocytosis.\n                    <\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Conclusions<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>\n                      <jats:italic>Pf<\/jats:italic>\n                      MSP2 is highly immunogenic using the mRNA vaccine platform and induces antibodies with multiple functional activities associated with protective immunity in humans. Combining\n                      <jats:italic>Pf<\/jats:italic>\n                      MSP2 with other merozoite and sporozoite antigens is a promising strategy to develop highly efficacious vaccines to achieve malaria control and elimination goals.\n                    <\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.3389\/fimmu.2026.1840217","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,16]],"date-time":"2026-09-16T05:33:08Z","timestamp":1789536788000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3389\/crossmark-policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":1,"title":["Targeting a malaria merozoite surface protein with mRNA vaccine generates multifunctional antibodies"],"prefix":"10.3389","volume":"17","author":[{"given":"Adam","family":"Thomas","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Life Sciences, Burnet Institute","place":["Melbourne, VIC, Australia"]},{"name":"Department of Immunology, Monash University","place":["Melbourne, VIC, Australia"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Tom","family":"R\u00fcnz","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Life Sciences, Burnet Institute","place":["Melbourne, VIC, Australia"]},{"name":"Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences, University of Bonn","place":["Bonn, Germany"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Timothy K. 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