NF54 strain Plasmodium falciparum sporozoites-Seattle Children's Hospital

The NF54 strain of Plasmodium falciparum sporozoites is a wild-type malaria parasite used as a standardized challenge agent in Controlled Human Malaria Infection (CHMI) trials. Developed and utilized by Seattle Children's Hospital (formerly Seattle BioMed), this strain is typically delivered to healthy, malaria-naive volunteers through the bites of infected Anopheles stephensi mosquitoes. The primary objective of using this live pathogen is to establish a reproducible malaria infection, which serves as a critical tool for evaluating the protective efficacy of candidate malaria vaccines and the prophylactic activity of new antimalarial drugs. Following the mosquito bites, the sporozoites migrate to the liver to infect hepatocytes, eventually leading to a detectable blood-stage infection that is closely monitored and treated by clinical staff.

Other names

wild-type NF54 strain Plasmodium falciparum sporozoitesP. falciparum NF54 sporozoitesNF54 strain Plasmodium falciparum sporozoitesNF-54 strain Plasmodium falciparum sporozoitesNF 54 strain Plasmodium falciparum sporozoites