An abundant merozoite surface protein of Plasmodium falciparum modulates susceptibility to inhibitory antibodies.

Abstract

Malaria merozoite surface proteins (MSPs) are thought to have important roles in red blood cell (RBC) invasion and their exposure on the parasite surface makes them attractive vaccine candidates. However, their role in invasion has not been directly demonstrated and their biological functions remain unknown. One of the most abundant merozoite surface proteins is PfMSP2, a likely ancestral protein that has been maintained in the Plasmodium falciparum lineage and is a focus of vaccine development. Using CRISPR-Cas9 gene editing, we removed PfMSP2 from two different P. falciparum lines with no impact on parasite replication or phenotype in vitro, demonstrating that it is not essential for RBC i..