title: Plasmodium simium, a Plasmodium vivax-related malaria parasite: genetic variability of Duffy binding protein II and the Duffy antigen/receptor for chemokines.
abstract: Plasmodium simium is a parasite from New World monkeys that is most closely related to the human malaria parasite Plasmodium vivax; it also naturally infects humans. The blood-stage infection of P. vivax depends on Duffy binding protein II (PvDBPII) and its cognate receptor on erythrocytes, the Duffy antigen receptor for chemokines (hDARC), but there is no information on the P. simium erythrocytic invasion pathway. The genes encoding P. simium DBP (PsDBPII) and simian DARC (sDARC) were sequenced from Southern brown howler monkeys (Alouatta guariba clamitans) naturally infected with P. simium because P. simium may also depend on the DBPII/DARC interaction. The sequences of DBP binding domains from P. vivax and P. simium were highly similar. However, the genetic variability of PsDBPII was lower than that of PvDBPII. Phylogenetic analyses demonstrated that these genes were strictly related and clustered in the same clade of the evolutionary tree. DARC from A. clamitans was also sequenced and contained three new non-synonymous substitutions. None of these substitutions were located in the N-terminal domain of DARC, which interacts directly with DBPII. The interaction between sDARC and PvDBPII was evaluated using a cytoadherence assay of COS7 cells expressing PvDBPII on their surfaces. Inhibitory binding assays in vitro demonstrated that antibodies from monkey sera blocked the interaction between COS-7 cells expressing PvDBPII and hDARC-positive erythrocytes. Taken together, phylogenetic analyses reinforced the hypothesis that the host switch from humans to monkeys may have occurred very recently in evolution, which sheds light on the evolutionary history of new world plasmodia. Further invasion studies would confirm whether P. simium depends on DBP/DARC to trigger internalization into red blood cells.
authors.affiliation: Laboratório de Malária, Centro de Pesquisas René Rachou, Fiocruz Minas, Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil.
authors.forename: Daniela
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Camargos Costa
authors.affiliation: Laboratório de Malária, Centro de Pesquisas René Rachou, Fiocruz Minas, Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil.
authors.forename: Gabriela Maíra
authors.initials: GM
authors.lastname: Pereira de Assis
authors.affiliation: Laboratório de Malária, Centro de Pesquisas René Rachou, Fiocruz Minas, Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil.
authors.forename: Flávia Alessandra
authors.initials: FA
authors.lastname: de Souza Silva
authors.affiliation: Laboratório de Malária, Centro de Pesquisas René Rachou, Fiocruz Minas, Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil.
authors.forename: Flávia Carolina
authors.initials: FC
authors.lastname: Araújo
authors.affiliation: FURB, Universidade Regional de Blumenau, Blumenau, Santa Catarina, Brazil; CEPESBI-Centro de Pesquisas Biológicas de Indaial, Indaial, Santa Catarina, Brazil.
authors.forename: Júlio César
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: de Souza Junior
authors.affiliation: FURB, Universidade Regional de Blumenau, Blumenau, Santa Catarina, Brazil; CEPESBI-Centro de Pesquisas Biológicas de Indaial, Indaial, Santa Catarina, Brazil.
authors.forename: Zelinda Maria
authors.initials: ZM
authors.lastname: Braga Hirano
authors.affiliation: Laboratório de Malária, Centro de Pesquisas René Rachou, Fiocruz Minas, Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil.
authors.forename: Flora
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Satiko Kano
authors.affiliation: Laboratório de Malária, Centro de Pesquisas René Rachou, Fiocruz Minas, Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil.
authors.forename: Taís
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Nóbrega de Sousa
authors.affiliation: Laboratório de Malária, Centro de Pesquisas René Rachou, Fiocruz Minas, Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil.
authors.forename: Luzia Helena
authors.initials: LH
authors.lastname: Carvalho
authors.affiliation: Laboratório de Malária, Centro de Pesquisas René Rachou, Fiocruz Minas, Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil.
authors.forename: Cristiana
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Ferreira Alves de Brito
mesh_terms: D000508:Alouatta; D000818:Animals; D000913:Antibodies, Protozoan / Q000276:immunology; D019556:COS Cells; D002522:Chlorocebus aethiops; D004375:Duffy Blood-Group System / Q000235:genetics* / Q000276:immunology; D004912:Erythrocytes / Q000276:immunology / Q000469:parasitology*; D019143:Evolution, Molecular; D014644:Genetic Variation; D006239:Haplotypes; D006801:Humans; D010802:Phylogeny; D010961:Plasmodium / Q000235:genetics* / Q000276:immunology; D010966:Plasmodium vivax / Q000235:genetics* / Q000276:immunology; D020641:Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide; D011487:Protein Conformation; D015800:Protozoan Proteins / Q000235:genetics; D011956:Receptors, Cell Surface / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA
chemical_list: C473745:ACKR1 protein, human; D000913:Antibodies, Protozoan; D004375:Duffy Blood-Group System; D015800:Protozoan Proteins; D011956:Receptors, Cell Surface