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Infection and Immunity, December 2007, p. 5967-5973, Vol. 75, No. 12
0019-9567/07/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/IAI.00327-07
Copyright © 2007, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Characterization of the Antibody Response against Plasmodium falciparum Erythrocyte Membrane Protein 1 in Human Volunteers{triangledown} ,{dagger}

Darren R. Krause,1,2 Michelle L. Gatton,1 Sarah Frankland,3 Damon P. Eisen,4 Michael F. Good,5 Leann Tilley,3 and Qin Cheng1,2*

Malaria Drug Resistance and Chemotherapy, Infectious Diseases and Immunology Division, The Queensland Institute of Medical Research, Post Office Royal Brisbane Hospital, Qld 4029, Australia,1 Drug Resistance and Diagnostics, Australian Army Malaria Institute, Gallipoli Barracks, Enoggera, Qld 4051, Australia,2 Department of Biochemistry, La Trobe University, Melbourne, Victoria 3086, Australia,3 Victorian Infectious Disease Service, Royal Melbourne Hospital, Victoria, Australia,4 Molecular Immunology, Infectious Diseases and Immunology Division, The Queensland Institute of Medical Research, Post Office Royal Brisbane Hospital, Qld 4029, Australia5

Received 1 March 2007/ Returned for modification 27 April 2007/ Accepted 4 September 2007

The immune response against the Plasmodium falciparum variant surface antigen P. falciparum erythrocyte membrane protein 1 (PfEMP1) is a key component of clinical immunity against falciparum malaria. In this study, we used sera from human volunteers who had been infected with the P. falciparum 3D7 strain to investigate the development, specificity, and dynamics of anti-PfEMP1 antibodies measured against six different strain 3D7 Duffy binding-like domain 1{alpha} (DBL1{alpha}) fusion proteins. We observed that a parasitemia of 20 to 200 infected erythrocytes per µl was required to trigger an antibody response to DBL1{alpha} and that antibodies against one DBL1{alpha} variant cross-react with other DBL1{alpha} variants. Both serum and purified immunoglobulin Gs (IgGs) were able to agglutinate infected erythrocytes, and purified anti-DBL1{alpha} IgGs bound to the live infected red blood cell surface in a punctate surface pattern, confirming that the IgGs recognize native PfEMP1. Analysis of sera from tourists naturally infected with P. falciparum suggests that the anti-PfEMP1 antibodies often persisted for more than 100 days after a single infection. These results help to further our understanding of the development of acquired immunity to P. falciparum infections.

* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Drug Resistance and Diagnostics, Australian Army Malaria Institute, Gallipoli Barracks, Enoggera, Qld 4051, Australia. Phone: 61-7-3332 4834. Fax: 61-7-3332 4800. E-mail: qin.cheng{at}defence.gov.au

{triangledown} Published ahead of print on 8 October 2007.

{dagger} Supplemental material for this article may be found at http://iai.asm.org/.

Editor: J. F. Urban, Jr.

Infection and Immunity, December 2007, p. 5967-5973, Vol. 75, No. 12
0019-9567/07/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/IAI.00327-07
Copyright © 2007, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.





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