Antibodies against merozoite surface protein (MSP)-119 are a major component of the invasion-inhibitory response in individuals immune to malaria

Abstract

Antibodies that bind to antigens expressed on the merozoite form of the malaria parasite can inhibit parasite growth by preventing merozoite invasion of red blood cells. Inhibitory antibodies are found in the sera of malaria-immune individuals, however, the specificity of those that are important to this process is not known. In this paper, we have used allelic replacement to construct a Plasmodium falciparum parasite line that expresses the complete COOH-terminal fragment of merozoite surface protein (MSP)-119 from the divergent rodent malaria P. chabaudi. By comparing this transfected line with parental parasites that differ only in MSP-119, we show that antibodies specific for this domain..