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Original Article |
Correspondence to: Mats Wahlgren, Microbiology and Tumor Biology Center, Karolinska Institutet, The Swedish Institute for Infectious Disease Control, Box 280, S-171 77 Stockholm, Sweden. Tel:46-8-4572510 Fax:46-8-310525 E-mail:mats.wahlgren{at}smi.ki.se.
Erythrocytes infected with mature forms of Plasmodium falciparum do not circulate but are withdrawn from the peripheral circulation; they are bound to the endothelial lining and to uninfected erythrocytes in the microvasculature. Blockage of the blood flow, hampered oxygen delivery, and severe malaria may follow if binding is excessive. The NH2-terminal head structure (Duffy bindinglike domain 1 [DBL1
]cysteine-rich interdomain region [CIDR1
]) of a single species of P. falciparum erythrocyte membrane protein 1 (PfEMP1) is here shown to mediate adherence to multiple host receptors including platelet-endothelial cell adhesion molecule 1 (PECAM-1)/CD31, the blood group A antigen, normal nonimmune immunoglobulin M, three virulence-associated receptor proteins, a heparan sulfatelike glucosaminoglycan, and CD36. DBL2
was found to mediate additional binding to PECAM-1/CD31. The exceptional binding activity of the PfEMP1 head structure and its relatively conserved nature argues that it holds an important role in erythrocyte sequestration and therefore in the virulence of the malaria parasite.
Key Words: malaria, sequestration, cytoadherence, rosetting, ligand
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