Epitope mapping and topographic analysis of VAR2CSA DBL3X involved in P. falciparum placental sequestration.

ABSTRACT: Pregnancy-associated malaria is a major health problem, which mainly affects primigravidae living in malaria endemic areas. The syndrome is precipitated by accumulation of infected erythrocytes in placental tissue through an interaction between chondroitin sulphate A on syncytiotrophoblasts and a parasite-encoded protein on the surface of infected erythrocytes, believed to be VAR2CSA. VAR2CSA is a polymorphic protein of approximately 3,000 amino acids forming six Duffy-binding-like (DBL) domains. For vaccine development it is important to define the antigenic targets for protective antibodies and to characterize the consequences of sequence variation. In this study, we used a combination of in silico tools, peptide arrays, and structural modeling to show that sequence variation mainly occu

SUBMITTER: Dahlback M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC1636682 | biostudies-literature | 2006 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature