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Infection and Immunity, October 2005, p. 6363-6371, Vol. 73, No. 10
0019-9567/05/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/IAI.73.10.6363-6371.2005
Copyright © 2005, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Alteration in Host Cell Tropism Limits the Efficacy of Immunization with a Surface Protein of Malaria Merozoites

Qifang Shi, Amy Cernetich, Thomas M. Daly, Gina Galvan, Akhil B. Vaidya, Lawrence W. Bergman, and James M. Burns Jr^*

Center for Molecular Parasitology, Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Drexel University College of Medicine, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19129

Received 23 March 2005/ Returned for modification 4 May 2005/ Accepted 26 May 2005

Immunization with Plasmodium yoelii merozoite surface protein-8 (PyMSP-8) has been shown to protect mice against lethal P. yoelii 17XL malaria. Here we demonstrate that PyMSP-8-specific antibodies preferentially suppress P. yoelii 17XL growth in mature erythrocytes compared to growth in reticulocytes and do not suppress the growth of nonlethal P. yoelii 17X, a parasite that primarily replicates in reticulocytes. The protection against normocyte-associated P. yoelii malaria parasites is mediated by antibodies that recognize conformational epitopes of PyMSP-8 that are nonpolymorphic. We examined changes in gene expression in reticulocyte-restricted P. yoelii 17XL parasites that escaped neutralization by PyMSP-8-specific antibodies using P. yoelii DNA microarrays. Of interest, Pymsp-8 gene expression decreased, while the expression of msp-1, msp-7, and several rhoptry protein genes increased. Breakthrough parasites also exhibited increases in the expression of a subset of yir and Pyst-a genes that are predicted to encode polymorphic antigens expressed on the surface of infected erythrocytes. These data suggest that changes in the expression of parasite proteins expressed on the merozoite surface, as well as the surface of infected erythrocytes, may alter host cell tropism and contribute to the ability of malaria parasites to evade merozoite-specific, neutralizing antibodies.

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* Corresponding author. Mailing address: Drexel University College of Medicine, Department of Microbiology and Immunology, 2900 Queen Lane, Philadelphia, PA 19129. Phone: (215) 991-8490. Fax: (215) 848-2271. E-mail: jburns{at}drexelmed.edu.

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

Editor: W. A. Petri, Jr.

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Infection and Immunity, October 2005, p. 6363-6371, Vol. 73, No. 10
0019-9567/05/$08.00+0     doi:10.1128/IAI.73.10.6363-6371.2005
Copyright © 2005, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

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