Trends in Parasitology
Volume 24, Issue 9, September 2008, Pages 396-400
Journal home page for Trends in Parasitology

Opinion
Mosquitocidal vaccines: a neglected addition to malaria and dengue control strategies

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pt.2008.06.003Get rights and content

The transmission of vector-borne diseases is dependent upon the ability of the vector to survive for longer than the period of development of the pathogen within the vector. One means of reducing mosquito lifespan, and thereby reducing their capacity to transmit diseases, is to target mosquitoes with vaccines. Here, the principle behind mosquitocidal vaccines is described, their potential impact in malaria and dengue control is modeled and the current research that could make these vaccines a reality is reviewed. Mosquito genome data, combined with modern molecular techniques, can be exploited to overcome the limited advances in this field. Given the large potential benefit to vector-borne disease control, research into the development of mosquitocidal vaccines deserves a high profile.

Section snippets

Vaccines against bloodfeeding arthropods

The concept of vaccines against bloodfeeding arthropods gained prominence with the successful demonstration of anti-tick immunity in cattle that were immunized with a recombinant protein, Bm86 1, 2. Boophilus microplus ticks that fed on vaccinated cattle exhibited reduced fecundity and survival. Bm86, which is marketed as TickGARDPLUS, has proven to be robust in the field [3] and maintains effectiveness over several tick generations. Since the immunization of hosts with mosquito antigens in

Mosquitocidal vaccines: pros and cons

There are strong arguments in favor of immune control of vectors in general and mosquitoes in particular. Vector control is by far the most successful method for reducing the incidences of diseases such as malaria and dengue, but the emergence of widespread insecticide resistance and the potential environmental issues associated with some insecticides (such as DDT) indicate that additional approaches to control the vector are needed. An ‘immune insecticide’ would target biting mosquitoes much

A brief history of mosquitocidal vaccines

Most attempts at developing mosquitocidal vaccines have taken the approach of repeatedly immunizing vertebrate hosts with homogenates of various tissues, which leads to reductions in survival, fecundity and pathogen transmission in numerous mosquito species 9, 10, 11, 12, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43. However, because of the heterogeneity of homogenates that cause variable host immunity, these approaches have probably been pursued to the limits of their usefulness (for reviews, see Refs 6, 19

Antigen discovery

With the deciphering of the An. gambiae and Aedes aegypti genomes, more targeted pathways to antigen discovery are now possible. Ideal antigens would be crucial to the vector, exposed to immune factors from the bloodmeal, susceptible to immune attack and of low abundance. The mosquito midgut remains the best tissue to target because it stores, diureses, digests and absorbs the bloodmeal; it is an essential part of the immune and neuroendocrine systems of the insect [49]; and it is in intimate

Concluding remarks

Current data strongly indicate that targeting mosquitoes with vaccine-type approaches can work. The commercial success of Bm86 as an anti-tick vaccine, along with new molecular techniques, offers encouragement to continue with the approach, but there are important obstacles to success. Not least of these is gaining acceptance from vector and pathogen research communities that the approach has proven merit, and fostering the field alongside more tried-and-tested areas of vector-borne disease

Acknowledgements

P.F.B. was funded by the European Commission during the work leading up to this article; the views presented here are those of the author, not of Sanaria Inc. B.D.F. acknowledges support on this paper from National Institutes of Health (NIH) contract N01 AI25489, and J.L.R. was funded by the Johns Hopkins Malaria Research Institute and the NIH.

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