Absence of antigenic diversity in Pf155, a major parasite antigen in membranes of erythrocytes infected with Plasmodium falciparum.
Pf155 is a merozoite-derived polypeptide antigen which the parasite Plasmodium falciparum deposits in the membranes of erythrocytes at invasion. Eleven laboratory strains or clones of P. falciparum and a large number of isolates obtained from patients from different parts of the world were studied for antigenic diversity in Pf155. Immunoglobulin G antibodies from different serum samples from P. falciparum-infected donors were affinity purified on monolayers of glutaraldehyde-fixed and air-dried erythrocytes infected with P. falciparum of different origins and tested in different combinations by immunoblotting, reinvasion inhibition, and a modified immunofluorescence procedure in which the membranes of recently infected erythrocytes were stained. Similar experiments were performed with monoclonal and oligoclonal antibodies specific for different epitopes in the C-terminal region of Pf155. No strain- or isolate-associated antigenic diversity or size variation of Pf155 was detected, indicating that the immunodominant regions of this antigen are highly conserved throughout the world.
D000818:Animals; D000913:Antibodies, Protozoan / Q000276:immunology; D000940:Antigenic Variation; D000953:Antigens, Protozoan / Q000276:immunology*; D000939:Epitopes / Q000276:immunology; D004912:Erythrocytes / Q000469:parasitology*; D005455:Fluorescent Antibody Technique; D006801:Humans; D007118:Immunoassay; D007074:Immunoglobulin G / Q000032:analysis; D010963:Plasmodium falciparum / Q000276:immunology*
D000913:Antibodies, Protozoan; D000953:Antigens, Protozoan; D000939:Epitopes; D007074:Immunoglobulin G