TITLE: Complement and Antibody-Mediated Enhancement of Erythrocyte Invasion by Plasmodium Falciparum PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR:

Complement and Antibody-Mediated Enhancement of Erythrocyte Invasion by Plasmodium Falciparum

Complement and Antibody-mediated Enhancement of Red Blood Cell Invasion and Growth of Malaria Parasites

Plasmodium falciparum malaria is a deadly pathogen. The invasion of red blood cells (RBCs) by merozoites is a target for vaccine development. Although anti-merozoite antibodies can block invasion in vitro, there is no efficacy in vivo. To explain this discrepancy we hypothesized that complement activation could enhance RBC invasion by binding to the complement receptor 1 (CR1). Here we show tha...

Human Antibodies Fix Complement to Inhibit Plasmodium falciparum Invasion of Erythrocytes and Are Associated with Protection against Malaria

Antibodies play major roles in immunity to malaria; however, a limited understanding of mechanisms mediating protection is a major barrier to vaccine development. We have demonstrated that acquired human anti-malarial antibodies promote complement deposition on the merozoite to mediate inhibition of erythrocyte invasion through C1q fixation and activation of the classical complement pathway. An...

The Use of Crude Plasmodium falciparum Antigens for Comparison of Antibody Responses in Patients with Mild Malaria vs. Cerebral Malaria

Background: Cerebral malaria (CM) is one of the major causes of death in African populations infected with Plasmodium falciparum. Only 1% of infected subjects develop CM. The reasons for these differences are not fully understood, but it is likely that the host humoral response against blood-stage antigens plays a role in protection from malaria, although the precise targets and mechanisms medi...

Recombinant Plasmodium falciparum reticulocyte homology protein 4 binds to erythrocytes and blocks invasion.

Plasmodium falciparum invasion of human erythrocytes involves several parasite and erythrocyte receptors that enable parasite invasion by multiple redundant pathways. A key challenge to the development of effective vaccines that block parasite infection of erythrocytes is identifying the players in these pathways and determining their function. Invasion by the parasite clone, Dd2, requires sial...