Laboratory of Malaria and Vector Research

Louis H. Miller, M.D.

Chief, Malaria Cell Biology Section

Description of Research Program

The study of the pathogenesis of malaria includes research on the mechanism by which malaria parasites invade erythrocytes, including the study of parasite ligands and erythrocyte receptors; the mechanism of antigenic variation; the molecular basis for cerebral malaria and rosetting; and the binding of var gene products to endothelium.

Major accomplishments include the following: Duffy blood group antigen is receptor for Plasmodium vivax; Duffy blood group antigen is the chemokine receptor; the molecular definition of the ligand and receptor for P. vivax; the molecular definition of the ligand and receptor for Plasmodium falciparum; the molecular basis of antigenic variation and the identification of the ligand for binding chondroitin sulfate A in placenta.

Future directions include the study of the different pathways for invasion of erythrocytes, including the sialic acid-independent pathway and the glycophorin B-dependent pathway; virulence factors in P. falciparum; and identifying recombinant proteins for vaccines that will block invasion and block cytoadherence to placenta.

Awards

Presidential Award, Paul Ehrlich Prize, Sixth Annual Bristol-Myers Squibb Award for Distinguished Achievement in Infectious Diseases Research, Comonwealth Award, Haverford College Humanitarian Award.

Memberships

• Association of American Physicians
• American Society of Clinical Investigation
• American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene
• Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene
• National Academy of Science
• Institute of Medicine

Research Group Members

Ipsita Pal-Bhowmick, Prakash Srinivasan, Deepak Gaur, Lubin Jiang

Selected Publications

To view a complete listing, visit PubMed.

Duan J, Mu J, Thera MA, Joy D, Kosakovsky Pond SL, Diemert D, Long CA, Zhou H, Miura K, Ouattara A, Dolo A, Doumbo O, Su X, Miller LH. Population structure of the genes encoding the polymorphic P. falciparum apical membrane antigen1: implications for vaccine design. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA. In press.

Singh S, Plassmeyer M, Gaur D, Miller LH. Mononeme: a new secretory organelle in Plasmodium falciparum merozoites identified by localization of rhomboid-1 protease.Proc Natl Acad Sci USA. 2007 Dec 11;104(50):20043-8.

Wu Y, Przysiecki C, Flanagan E, Bello-Irizarry SN, Ionescu R, Muratova O, Dobrescu G, Lambert L, Keister D, Rippeon Y, Long CA, Shi L, Caulfield M, Shaw A, Saul A, Miller LH. Sustained high-titer antibody responses induced by conjugating a malarial vaccine candidate to outer-membrane protein complex. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA. 2006 Nov 28;103(48):18243-8.

Kato K, Mayer DC, Singh S, Reid M, Miller LH. Domain III of Plasmodium falciparum apical membrane antigen 1 binds to the erythrocyte membrane protein Kx. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA. 2005 Apr 12;102(15):5552-7.

Gamain B, Smith JD, Avril M, Baruch DI, Scherf A, Gysin J, Miller LH. Identification of a 67-amino-acid region of the Plasmodium falciparum variant surface antigen that binds chondroitin sulphate A and elicits antibodies reactive with the surface of placental isolates. Mol Microbiol. 2004 Jul;53(2):445-55.

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