A Novel Erythrocyte Binding Protein of Plasmodium vivax Suggests an Alternate Invasion Pathway into Duffy-Positive Reticulocytes.

ABSTRACT:

Unlabelled

Erythrocyte invasion by malaria parasites is essential for blood-stage development and an important determinant of host range. In Plasmodium vivax, the interaction between the Duffy binding protein (DBP) and its cognate receptor, the Duffy antigen receptor for chemokines (DARC), on human erythrocytes is central to blood-stage infection. Contrary to this established pathway of invasion, there is growing evidence of P. vivax infections occurring in Duffy blood group-negative individuals, suggesting that the parasite might have gained an alternative pathway to infect this group of individuals. Supporting this concept, a second distinct erythrocyte binding protein (EBP2), representing a new member of the DBP family, was discovered in P. vivax and may be the ligand in an alte

SUBMITTER: Ntumngia FB 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4999553 | biostudies-literature | 2016 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature