Reticulocyte Binding Protein Homologue 5 is a target of balancing selection in the Plasmodium falciparum population of Papua New Guinea.

ABSTRACT: Plasmodium falciparum Reticulocyte Binding Protein Homologue (RH5), a leading malaria vaccine candidate, is essential for erythrocyte invasion by the parasite, interacting with the human host receptor, basigin. RH5 has a small number of polymorphisms relative to other blood-stage antigens, and in vitro studies have shown that vaccine-induced antibodies raised against RH5 are strain-transcending, however most studies investigating RH5 diversity have been done in Africa. Understanding the genetic diversity and evolution of malaria antigens in other regions is important for their validation as vaccine candidates. In this study the rh5 gene was sequenced in 677 samples from a longitudinal cohort of Papua New Guinean (PNG) children aged 1-3 years. Of 677 samples successfull

SUBMITTER: Naung MT 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11731791 | biostudies-literature | 2023

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature