title: Synthetic glycosylphosphatidylinositol microarray reveals differential antibody levels and fine specificities in children with mild and severe malaria.
abstract: Glycosylphosphatidylinositol (GPI) glycolipids abound on the cell surface at the merozoite stage of Plasmodium falciparum life cycle are a central toxin in malaria. The contribution of GPI specific humoral immune responses to protection against malaria pathology is not clear, since studies on the correlation between anti-GPI antibody titers and disease severity have yielded contradictory results. Here, we present the application of a carbohydrate microarray based on synthetic PfGPI glycans to assess levels and fine specificities of anti-GPI antibody responses in healthy and malaria diseased individuals. Furthermore, the age dependent development of humoral immune responses against GPI in malaria-exposed children was investigated. Anti-GPI antibodies were only rarely found in children under the age of 18 months. Sera from subjects with severe malaria and healthy children contained antibodies that recognized predominantly synthetic Man(3)-GPI and Man(4)-GPIs. In contrast, antibodies in sera of children with mild malaria also showed substantial reactivity with truncated glycans comprising glucosamine-inositol moieties without mannose or with only one or two mannose residues.
authors.affiliation: Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute, Socinstr. 57, 4002 Basel, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Marco
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Tamborrini
authors.forename: Xinyu
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Joseph Paschal
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Mugasa
authors.forename: Yong-Uk
authors.initials: YU
authors.lastname: Kwon
authors.forename: Faustin
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Kamena
authors.forename: Peter H
authors.initials: PH
authors.lastname: Seeberger
authors.forename: Gerd
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Pluschke
mesh_terms: D000367:Age Factors; D000906:Antibodies / Q000032:analysis* / Q000276:immunology; D002675:Child, Preschool; D018604:Epitope Mapping; D000939:Epitopes / Q000032:analysis; D005944:Glucosamine / Q000032:analysis; D017261:Glycosylphosphatidylinositols / Q000276:immunology*; D006801:Humans; D056724:Immunity, Humoral; D007223:Infant; D007294:Inositol / Q000032:analysis; D008288:Malaria / Q000276:immunology*; D008358:Mannose / Q000032:analysis; D011134:Polysaccharides / Q000032:analysis; D012720:Severity of Illness Index
chemical_list: D000906:Antibodies; D000939:Epitopes; D017261:Glycosylphosphatidylinositols; D011134:Polysaccharides; D007294:Inositol; D005944:Glucosamine; D008358:Mannose