The leading vaccine candidates for a P. falciparum blood-stage malaria vaccine are members of a heterotrimeric complex containing reticulocyte-binding protein homolog 5 (RH5), cysteinerich protective antigen (CyRPA), and RH5-interacting protein (RIPR), collectively called the "RCR complex"15. Each member of this complex is highly conserved, essential for erythrocyte invasion, and capable of inducing cross-strain neutralizing antibodies. The leading blood-stage malaria vaccine candidate, CyRPA, is essential for invasion of Plasmodium falciparum into human erythrocytes.