Variant antigens and endothelial receptor adhesion in Plasmodium falciparum

J. P. Gardner, R. A. Pinches, D. J. Roberts, C. I. Newbold*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

157 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Parasite-derived proteins expressed on the surface of erythrocytes infected with Plasmodium falciparum are important virulence factors, since they mediate binding of infected cells to diverse receptors on vascular endothelium and are targets of a protective immune response. They are difficult to study because they undergo rapid clonal antigenic variation in vitro, which precludes the derivation of phenotypically homogeneous cultures. Here we have utilized sequence-specific proteases to dissect the role of defined antigenic variants in binding to particular receptors. By selection of protease-resistant subpopulations of parasites on defined receptors we (i) confirm the high rate of antigenic variation in vitro; (ii) demonstrate that a single infected erythrocyte can bind to intercellular adhesion molecule 1, CD36, and thrombospondin; (iii) show that binding to intercellular adhesion molecule I and CD36 are functions of the variant antigen; and (iv) suggest that binding to thrombospondin may be mediated by other components of the infected erythrocyte surface.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)3503-3508
Number of pages6
JournalProceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
Volume93
Issue number8
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 16 Apr 1996
Externally publishedYes

Keywords

  • antigenic variation
  • cytoadherence
  • malaria

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