Evidence map›Paper›PMID 42405012›Full record

ReviewOpen research Africa2026

Beyond VAR2CSA: redefining the antigenic landscape of placental malaria vaccines.

Lucy Mwai, Purity Gacheri Limbua, Jesse Gitaka, Bernard N Kanoi

Abstract readReview
In one paragraph

Review in Open research Africa, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
0citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

0 citing papers in PubMed.

No citing paper in PubMed yet.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

4 authors.

Lucy Mwai1Centre for Malaria Elimination, Institute of Tropical Medicine, Mount Kenya University, Thika, Kenya.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4983-5733
Purity Gacheri LimbuaMount Kenya University School of Pure and Applied Sciences, Thika, Kenya.
Jesse Gitaka1Centre for Malaria Elimination, Institute of Tropical Medicine, Mount Kenya University, Thika, Kenya.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7516-522X
Bernard N Kanoi1Centre for Malaria Elimination, Institute of Tropical Medicine, Mount Kenya University, Thika, Kenya.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2772-7579

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Background: Placental malaria (PM) remains a leading driver of maternal and neonatal mortality, largely attributed to the sequestration of Methods: This review examines existing literature to map potential vaccine antigens implicated in placental malaria ,and outlines a comprehensive vaccine development pipeline. It synthesizes emerging data on antigen expression profiles, immunogenicity, and mechanistic roles in placental pathogenesis. In addition, it highlights both key placental and blood-stage antigens expressed during pregnancy and reviews identification and testing strategies to guide rational PM vaccine design. Results: This Review maps the expanding antigenic landscape of PM beyond VAR2CSA, identifying non-canonical surface and exported proteins, including SURFINs, PHISTs, PfRON3, and Conclusions: Furthermore, we propose an integrated framework for rational vaccine design that couples high-throughput antigen discovery and structural immunogen engineering with multivalent formulation strategies. By bridging the gap between molecular parasitology and translational immunology, this roadmap offers a strategic path toward a broadly protective placental malaria (PM) vaccine.

Indexed as

multivalent vaccineplacental malariaplacental malaria vaccinesPlasmodium falciparumpregnancy-specific immunityvaccine antigen mappingVAR2CSA

Identifiers

PMID42405012
PMCPMC13332378

What Socratic holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
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Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.