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Biophysical Characterization Of Optimized Self-Assembling Protein Nanoparticles As A Malaria Vaccine, Sophia Walker
Biophysical Characterization Of Optimized Self-Assembling Protein Nanoparticles As A Malaria Vaccine, Sophia Walker
Honors Scholar Theses
Malaria is an infectious disease that affects several million individuals worldwide and is a significant international public health issue. While there is currently a malaria vaccine in phase III clinical trials, recent results demonstrate that it is only about 35% effective in reducing the incidence of the disease. The use of self-assembling protein nanoparticles (SAPNs) that display epitopes of the repeat sequence of the circumsporozoite protein of Plasmodium falciparum, the parasite that causes malaria, has been shown to elicit a strong immune response. This prototype has potential for further improvement by altering the epitope regions of the nanoparticles to …