Studies examining the role of FcR in immunity to parasites have made use of FcR-chain knockout mice [10,11]. antigens to incorporate into current vaccines. Understanding antibody types and Fc-receptors that optimally induce immunity is therefore vital to developing the best vaccines. Surrogate markers of antibody efficacy currently rely on in vitro assays that are laborious and difficult to reproduce. It remains unclear if such in vitro assays are predictive of functional immunity in humans due to the Vinorelbine Tartrate lack of suitable animal models permissive for Here, we create a transgenic in vivo mouse model that has significant advantage over the use of new world primates, the only other model for human malaria. We demonstrate that this model defines an Fc-dependent mechanism of parasite destruction that cannot be assessed in current in vitro assays. The model provides both a test for therapeutic antibody efficacy prior to clinical trials in humans and an important tool in malaria vaccine development. Introduction Malaria continues to kill approximately 2C3 million people each year [1]. The success of passive immunization in humans and animals suggests that immunoglobulin (Ig)-based therapies could be effective [2,3]. Manipulating antibody (Ab) genes allows the design of Ig with defined class and specificity, targeting protective epitopes on the parasite surface [4,5]. An appropriate target is the 19-kDa C-terminal region of merozoite surface protein 1 (MSP119). This polypeptide displays limited sequence polymorphism possibly because the structure is constrained by its function [6], is expressed by all vertebrate asexual life-cycle stages [7], and acts as a major target of the erythrocyte invasion-inhibitory Ab response in individuals immune Vinorelbine Tartrate to malaria [8]. Novel genetic approaches, including linkage-group selection, have also identified MSP1 as an important target of immunity [9]. The mechanisms whereby Ig mediates protective immunity in malaria are less clear. The importance of Fc-receptor (FcR) subunits in malaria immunity has been studied in animals with FcR deletions. Although informative, these gene-deficient mouse models may not always mimic the human immune condition, due Vinorelbine Tartrate to differences in FcR biology and an apparent lack of true homologues [5]. Studies examining the role of FcR in immunity to parasites have made use of FcR-chain knockout mice [10,11]. The -chain, a subunit common to FcRI, FcRIIIa, Fc?RI, and FcRI, is required for efficient cell surface expression and signal transduction. Consequently, FcR?/? mice are unable to elicit phagocytosis or Ab-dependent cell-mediated Vinorelbine Tartrate cytotoxicity reactions through these receptors. Two recent studies with rodent malarias in the FcR?/? have proved controversial, with one study showing a crucial role for FcR-mediated Ab-dependent phagocytosis in host resistance to blood-stage XAT infection [10], and another study with concluding that the protective effects of Ab probably arise through FcR-independent mechanisms [11]. However, these studies ignore two important possibilities. Firstly, there might be other, as yet unidentified, FcR involved in the observed response, and secondly, the -chain of many FcR may associate with other signaling proteins other than the common -chain. With this in mind, it is interesting to note that mouse IgG3-opsonized can still be phagocytosed by macrophages from FcR?/? mice [12]. This effect is probably mediated via an undefined FcR without requiring -chain for function because, of the known FcR, only murine FcRI binds mouse IgG3, as demonstrated by transfection studies [13]. Secondly, FcR-chain-deficient mice Vinorelbine Tartrate were found to express partially functional FcRI in more recent mouse knockouts [14,15]. It is now known that the -chain Rabbit polyclonal to ANGEL2 of FcRI can mediate MHC class II Ag presentation without active.