Selective expression of variant surface antigens enables Plasmodium falciparum to evade immune clearance in vivo

Marvin Chew, Weijian Ye, Radoslaw Igor Omelianczyk, Charisse Flerida Pasaje, Regina Hoo, Qingfeng Chen, Jacquin C. Niles, Jianzhu Chen () and Peter Preiser ()
Additional contact information
Marvin Chew: Nanyang Technological University
Weijian Ye: Nanyang Technological University
Radoslaw Igor Omelianczyk: Nanyang Technological University
Charisse Flerida Pasaje: Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Regina Hoo: Nanyang Technological University
Qingfeng Chen: Agency of Science, Technology and Research
Jacquin C. Niles: Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Jianzhu Chen: Antimicrobial Resistance Interdisciplinary Research Group
Peter Preiser: Nanyang Technological University

Nature Communications, 2022, vol. 13, issue 1, 1-12

Abstract: Abstract Plasmodium falciparum has developed extensive mechanisms to evade host immune clearance. Currently, most of our understanding is based on in vitro studies of individual parasite variant surface antigens and how this relates to the processes in vivo is not well-understood. Here, we have used a humanized mouse model to identify parasite factors important for in vivo growth. We show that upregulation of the specific PfEMP1, VAR2CSA, provides the parasite with protection from macrophage phagocytosis and clearance in the humanized mice. Furthermore, parasites adapted to thrive in the humanized mice show reduced NK cell-mediated killing through interaction with the immune inhibitory receptor, LILRB1. Taken together, these findings reveal new insights into the molecular and cellular mechanisms that the parasite utilizes to coordinate immune escape in vivo. Identification and targeting of these specific parasite variant surface antigens crucial for immune evasion provides a unique approach for therapy.

Date: 2022
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-022-31741-2 Abstract (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:nat:natcom:v:13:y:2022:i:1:d:10.1038_s41467-022-31741-2

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
https://www.nature.com/ncomms/

DOI: 10.1038/s41467-022-31741-2

Access Statistics for this article

Nature Communications is currently edited by Nathalie Le Bot, Enda Bergin and Fiona Gillespie

More articles in Nature Communications from Nature
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Sonal Shukla () and Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing ().