{"title":"LARC-GAPs: emerging whole-sporozoite vaccines for high-level sterile protection against malaria.","authors":"Plabita Paul, Indrani Chakraborty, Raksha Devi, Satish Mishra","doi":"10.1016/j.pt.2026.09.013","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Malaria remains a major global health challenge. Despite the recent deployment of the RTS,S/AS01 and R21/Matrix-M vaccines, malaria cases and deaths continue to increase. Although these vaccines are a major achievement, their protection is incomplete and wanes over time. Whole-sporozoite vaccines are the most effective malaria vaccines targeting the pre-erythrocytic stage. Among them, genetically attenuated parasites (GAPs) have shown advantages over other vaccine approaches. Recent studies have shown that late liver-stage-arresting, replication-competent (LARC)-GAPs elicit broader immune responses and provide better protection than other malaria vaccines. Here, we highlight the development of GAP vaccines, compare early-arresting GAPs and LARC-GAPs, discuss recent clinical data, and assess their translational potential as next-generation malaria vaccines.</p>","PeriodicalId":23327,"journal":{"name":"Trends in parasitology","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":7.6000,"publicationDate":"2026-09-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Trends in parasitology","FirstCategoryId":"3","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pt.2026.09.013","RegionNum":1,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q1","JCRName":"PARASITOLOGY","Score":null,"Total":0}
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Abstract
Malaria remains a major global health challenge. Despite the recent deployment of the RTS,S/AS01 and R21/Matrix-M vaccines, malaria cases and deaths continue to increase. Although these vaccines are a major achievement, their protection is incomplete and wanes over time. Whole-sporozoite vaccines are the most effective malaria vaccines targeting the pre-erythrocytic stage. Among them, genetically attenuated parasites (GAPs) have shown advantages over other vaccine approaches. Recent studies have shown that late liver-stage-arresting, replication-competent (LARC)-GAPs elicit broader immune responses and provide better protection than other malaria vaccines. Here, we highlight the development of GAP vaccines, compare early-arresting GAPs and LARC-GAPs, discuss recent clinical data, and assess their translational potential as next-generation malaria vaccines.
期刊介绍：
Since its inception as Parasitology Today in 1985, Trends in Parasitology has evolved into a highly esteemed review journal of global significance, reflecting the importance of medical and veterinary parasites worldwide. The journal serves as a hub for communication among researchers across all disciplines of parasitology, encompassing endoparasites, ectoparasites, transmission vectors, and susceptible hosts.
Each monthly issue of Trends in Parasitology offers authoritative, cutting-edge, and yet accessible review articles, providing a balanced and comprehensive overview, along with opinion pieces offering personal and novel perspectives. Additionally, the journal publishes a variety of short articles designed to inform and stimulate thoughts in a lively and widely-accessible manner. These include Science & Society (discussing the interface between parasitology and the general public), Spotlight (highlighting recently published research articles), Forum (presenting single-point hypotheses), Parasite/Vector of the Month (featuring a modular display of the selected species), Letter (providing responses to recent articles in Trends in Parasitology), and Trendstalk (conducting interviews). Please note that the journal exclusively publishes literature reviews based on published data, with systematic reviews, meta-analysis, and unpublished primary research falling outside our scope.
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