The proteins displayed on the merozoite cell surface have long been considered
attractive vaccine targets because of their direct exposure to host antibodies; however, progress in understanding the functional role of these targets has been hindered by technical challenges associated with expressing these proteins in a functionally active recombinant form.
While erythrocyte invasion is a rapid process, the brief extracellular exposure of merozoites outside of their intra-erythrocytic niche places them in direct contact with host antibodies, which contribute to naturally acquired immunity to malaria [8, 9]; therefore, merozoite cell surface and secreted proteins have long been considered
attractive targets for rational
vaccine development.