title: Differential protein expression profiles between Plasmodium falciparum parasites isolated from subjects presenting with pregnancy-associated malaria and uncomplicated malaria in Benin.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Plasmodium falciparum is responsible for severe malaria, including pregnancy-associated malaria (PAM). During intra-erythrocytic maturation, the infected erythrocyte (iE) membrane is modified by insertion of parasite-derived proteins, primarily consisting of variant surface antigens such as P. falciparum erythrocyte membrane protein-1.
  
  
  METHODS
  To identify new PAM-specific parasite membrane proteins, we conducted a mass spectrometry-based proteomic study and compared the protein expression profiles of 10 PAM and 10 uncomplicated malaria (UM) samples.
  
  
  RESULTS
  We focused on the 454/1139 membrane-associated and hypothetical proteins for comparative analysis. Using filter-based feature-selection methods combined with supervised data analysis, we identified a subset of 53 proteins that distinguished PAM and UM samples. Up to 19/20 samples were correctly assigned to their respective clinical group. A hierarchical clustering analysis of these 53 proteins based on the similarity of their expression profiles revealed 2 main clusters of 40 and 13 proteins that were under- or over-expressed, respectively, in PAM.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  VAR2CSA is identified and associated with PAM, validating our experimental approach. Other PAM-predictive proteins included PFI1785w, PF14_0018, PFB0115w, PFF0325c, and PFA_0410w. These proteomics data demonstrate the involvement of selected proteins in the pathophysiology of PAM, providing new insights for the definition of potential new targets for a vaccine against PAM.
authors.affiliation: Institut de Recherche pour le Développement, UMR216 Mère et enfant face aux infections tropicales.
authors.forename: Gwladys I
authors.initials: GI
authors.lastname: Bertin
authors.forename: Audrey
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Sabbagh
authors.forename: François
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Guillonneau
authors.forename: Sayeh
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Jafari-Guemouri
authors.forename: Sem
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ezinmegnon
authors.forename: Christian
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Federici
authors.forename: Benjamin
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Hounkpatin
authors.forename: Nadine
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Fievet
authors.forename: Philippe
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Deloron
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001541:Benin / Q000453:epidemiology; D002648:Child; D016000:Cluster Analysis; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D016778:Malaria, Falciparum / Q000469:parasitology*; D008297:Male; D013058:Mass Spectrometry; D008565:Membrane Proteins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000145:classification / Q000378:metabolism*; D018512:Parasitemia / Q000469:parasitology; D010963:Plasmodium falciparum / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000472:pathogenicity; D011247:Pregnancy; D015597:Pregnancy Complications, Parasitic / Q000469:parasitology*; D025341:Principal Component Analysis; D015800:Protozoan Proteins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000145:classification / Q000378:metabolism*; D015203:Reproducibility of Results
chemical_list: D008565:Membrane Proteins; D015800:Protozoan Proteins
keywords: Plasmodium falciparum; field isolate; mass spectrometry; pregnancy-associated malaria; protein abundance; protein identification