Expression of Plasmodium falciparum 3D7 STEVOR proteins for evaluation of antibody responses following malaria infections in naive infants

N Schreiber, A Khattab, M Petter, F Marks, S Adjei… - Parasitology, 2008 - cambridge.org
N Schreiber, A Khattab, M Petter, F Marks, S Adjei, R Kobbe, J May, MQ Klinkert
Parasitology, 2008cambridge.org
Clinical immunity to Plasmodium falciparum malaria develops after repeated exposure to the
parasite. At least 2 P. falciparum variant antigens encoded by multicopy gene families (var
and rif) are targets of this adaptive antibody-mediated immunity. A third multigene family of
variant antigens comprises the stevor genes. Here, 4 different stevor sequences were
selected for cloning and expression in Escherichia coli and His6–tagged fusion proteins
were used for assessing the development of immunity. In a cross-sectional analysis of …
Clinical immunity to Plasmodium falciparum malaria develops after repeated exposure to the parasite. At least 2 P. falciparum variant antigens encoded by multicopy gene families (var and rif) are targets of this adaptive antibody-mediated immunity. A third multigene family of variant antigens comprises the stevor genes. Here, 4 different stevor sequences were selected for cloning and expression in Escherichia coli and His6–tagged fusion proteins were used for assessing the development of immunity. In a cross-sectional analysis of clinically immune adults living in a malaria endemic area in Ghana, high levels of anti-STEVOR IgG antibody titres were determined in ELISA. A cross-sectional study of 90 nine-month-old Ghanaian infants using 1 recombinant STEVOR showed that the antibody responses correlated positively with the number of parasitaemia episodes. In a longitudinal investigation of 17 immunologically naïve 9-month-old infants, 3 different patterns of anti-STEVOR antibody responses could be distinguished (high, transient and low). Children with high anti-STEVOR-antibody levels exhibited an elevated risk for developing parasitaemia episodes. Overall, a protective effect could not be attributed to antibodies against the STEVOR proteins chosen for the study presented here.
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