Characterization of the antibody response against Plasmodium falciparum erythrocyte membrane protein 1 in human volunteers

Abstract

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 1α (DBL1α) fusion proteins. We observed that a parasitemia of 20 to 200 infected erythrocytes per μl was required to trigger an antibody response to DBL1α and that antibodies against one DBL1α variant cross-react with other DBL1α variants. Bo..