B cell memory to 3 Plasmodium falciparum blood-stage antigens in a malaria-endemic area.
To gain insight into why antibody responses to malarial antigens tend to be short lived, we studied antigen-specific memory B cells from donors in an area where malaria is endemic. We compared antibody and memory B cell responses to tetanus toxoid with those to 3 Plasmodium falciparum candidate vaccine antigens: the C-terminal portion of merozoite surface protein 1 (MSP1(19)), apical membrane antigen 1 (AMA1), and the cysteine-rich interdomain region 1 alpha (CIDR1 alpha ) of a protein from the P. falciparum erythrocyte membrane protein 1 (PfEMP1) family. These data are the first to be generated on memory B cells in children who are in the process of acquiring antimalarial immunity, and they reveal defects in B cell memory to P. falciparum antigens. Compared with the results for tetanus toxoid, more donors who were positive for antibody to AMA1 and CIDR1 alpha were negative for memory B cells. These data imply that some exposures to malaria do not result in the establishment of stable populations of circulating antigen-specific memory B cells, suggesting possible mechanisms for the short-lived nature of many anti-malarial antibody responses.
Dorfman
Jeffrey R
JR
Kenya Medical Research Institute, Wellcome Trust Research Laboratories, Kilifi, Kenya. jeffreydorfman@yahoo.com
Bejon
Philip
P
Ndungu
Francis M
FM
Langhorne
Jean
J
Kortok
Moses Mosobo
MM
Lowe
Brett S
BS
Mwangi
Tabitha W
TW
Williams
Thomas N
TN
Marsh
Kevin
K
D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D000818:Animals; D000913:Antibodies, Protozoan / Q000097:blood; D000953:Antigens, Protozoan / Q000276:immunology*; D001402:B-Lymphocytes / Q000276:immunology*; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D006801:Humans; D007156:Immunologic Memory; D007223:Infant; D016778:Malaria, Falciparum / Q000276:immunology*; D008565:Membrane Proteins / Q000276:immunology; D020066:Merozoite Surface Protein 1 / Q000276:immunology; D010963:Plasmodium falciparum / Q000502:physiology*; D021122:Protein Subunits / Q000276:immunology; D015800:Protozoan Proteins / Q000276:immunology
D000913:Antibodies, Protozoan; D000953:Antigens, Protozoan; D008565:Membrane Proteins; D020066:Merozoite Surface Protein 1; D021122:Protein Subunits; D015800:Protozoan Proteins; C090077:apical membrane antigen I, Plasmodium; C085731:erythrocyte membrane protein 1, Plasmodium falciparum