A single member of the Plasmodium falciparum var multigene family determines cytoadhesion to the placental receptor chondroitin sulphate A.

ABSTRACT: In high-transmission regions, protective clinical immunity to Plasmodium falciparum develops during the early years of life, limiting serious complications of malaria in young children. Pregnant women are an exception and are especially susceptible to severe P. falciparum infections resulting from the massive adhesion of parasitized erythrocytes to chondroitin sulphate A (CSA) present on placental syncytiotrophoblasts. Epidemiological studies strongly support the feasibility of an intervention strategy to protect pregnant women from disease. However, different parasite molecules have been associated with adhesion to CSA. In this work, we show that disruption of the var2csa gene of P. falciparum results in the inability of parasites to recover the CSA-binding phenotype. This gene is a membe

SUBMITTER: Viebig NK 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC1369142 | biostudies-literature | 2005 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature