Can any lessons be learned from the ambiguous glycan binding of PfEMP1 domains?

TY - JOUR

T1 - Can any lessons be learned from the ambiguous glycan binding of PfEMP1 domains?

AU - Dahlbäck, Madeleine

AU - Nielsen, Morten A

AU - Salanti, Ali

PY - 2010/5

Y1 - 2010/5

N2 - Pregnancy-associated malaria (PAM) is caused by Plasmodium falciparum-infected erythrocytes (IEs) accumulating in the placenta and has dire consequences for both mother and child. The multi-domain antigen VAR2CSA confers specific adhesion of IEs to chondroitin sulphate A (CSA) in the placenta, and is the leading PAM vaccine candidate. Recent data from different laboratories show that the binding properties of individual VAR2CSA domains do not reflect the native CSA-specific adhesion of IEs, which questions the relevance of the information obtained from single domain binding assays and co-crystallization experiments. Here, we discuss the implications of these findings for VAR2CSA vaccine development and highlight the need for studying the native structure of this protein.

AB - Pregnancy-associated malaria (PAM) is caused by Plasmodium falciparum-infected erythrocytes (IEs) accumulating in the placenta and has dire consequences for both mother and child. The multi-domain antigen VAR2CSA confers specific adhesion of IEs to chondroitin sulphate A (CSA) in the placenta, and is the leading PAM vaccine candidate. Recent data from different laboratories show that the binding properties of individual VAR2CSA domains do not reflect the native CSA-specific adhesion of IEs, which questions the relevance of the information obtained from single domain binding assays and co-crystallization experiments. Here, we discuss the implications of these findings for VAR2CSA vaccine development and highlight the need for studying the native structure of this protein.

U2 - 10.1016/j.pt.2010.02.002

DO - 10.1016/j.pt.2010.02.002

M3 - Journal article

C2 - 20189879

SN - 1471-4922

VL - 26

SP - 230

EP - 235

JO - Trends in Parasitology

JF - Trends in Parasitology

IS - 5

ER -