Plasmodium falciparum var genes expressed in children with severe malaria encode CIDRα1 domains.

ABSTRACT: Most severe Plasmodium falciparum infections are experienced by young children. Severe symptoms are precipitated by vascular sequestration of parasites expressing a particular subset of the polymorphic P. falciparum erythrocyte membrane protein 1 (PfEMP1) adhesion molecules. Parasites binding human endothelial protein C receptor (EPCR) through the CIDRα1 domain of certain PfEMP1 were recently associated with severe malaria in children. However, it has remained unclear to which extend the EPCR-binding CIDRα1 domains epitomize PfEMP1 expressed in severe malaria. Here, we characterized the near full-length transcripts dominating the var transcriptome in children with severe malaria and found that the only common feature of the encoded PfEMP1 was CIDRα1 domains. Such genes were highly and domi

SUBMITTER: Jespersen JS 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4967939 | biostudies-literature | 2016 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature