ORCID Profile
0000-0002-2870-1955
Current Organisation
University of Oxford
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Publisher: Public Library of Science (PLoS)
Date: 31-01-2011
Publisher: Public Library of Science (PLoS)
Date: 11-06-2019
Publisher: Frontiers Media SA
Date: 04-06-2019
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 06-2019
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 03-2017
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 02-08-2019
DOI: 10.1002/PROT.25786
Publisher: The American Association of Immunologists
Date: 10-2015
Abstract: The virulence of Plasmodium falciparum is linked to the ability of infected erythrocytes (IE) to adhere to the vascular endothelium, mediated by P. falciparum erythrocyte membrane protein 1 (PfEMP1). In this article, we report the functional characterization of an mAb that recognizes a panel of PfEMP1s and inhibits ICAM-1 binding. The 24E9 mouse mAb was raised against PFD1235w DBLβ3_D4, a domain from the group A PfEMP1s associated with severe malaria. 24E9 recognizes native PfEMP1 expressed on the IE surface and shows cross-reactivity with and cross-inhibition of the ICAM-1 binding capacity of domain cassette 4 PfEMP1s. 24E9 Fab fragments bind DBLβ3_D4 with nanomolar affinity and inhibit ICAM-1 binding of domain cassette 4–expressing IE. The antigenic regions targeted by 24E9 Fab were identified by hydrogen/deuterium exchange mass spectrometry and revealed three discrete peptides that are solvent protected in the complex. When mapped onto a homology model of DBLβ3_D4, these cluster to a defined, surface-exposed region on the convex surface of DBLβ3_D4. Mutagenesis confirmed that the site most strongly protected is necessary for 24E9 binding, which is consistent with a low-resolution structure of the DBLβ3_D4::24E9 Fab complex derived from small-angle x-ray scattering. The convex surface of DBLβ3_D4 has previously been shown to contain the ICAM-1 binding site of DBLβ domains, suggesting that the mAb acts by occluding the ICAM-1 binding surface. Conserved epitopes, such as those targeted by 24E9, are promising candidates for the inclusion in a vaccine interfering with ICAM-1–specific adhesion of group A PfEMP1 expressed by P. falciparum IE during severe malaria.
Publisher: The American Association of Immunologists
Date: 2013
Abstract: Cerebral Plasmodium falciparum malaria is characterized by adhesion of infected erythrocytes (IEs) to the cerebral microvasculature. This has been linked to parasites expressing the structurally related group A subset of the P. falciparum erythrocyte membrane protein 1 (PfEMP1) family of IE adhesion ligands and to IEs with affinity for ICAM-1. However, recent evidence has cast doubt on both these associations, tempering hopes of the feasibility of developing a vaccine based on ICAM-1–binding PfEMP1. In this study, we report the identification of a domain cassette (DC) present in group A var genes from six genetically distinct P. falciparum parasites. The three domains in the cassette, which we call DC4, had a high level of sequence identity and cluster together phylogenetically. Erythrocytes infected by these parasites and selected in vitro for expression of DC4 adhered specifically to ICAM-1. The ICAM-1–binding capacity of DC4 was mapped to the C-terminal third of its Duffy-binding–like β3 domain. DC4 was the target of broadly cross-reactive and adhesion-inhibitory IgG Abs, and levels of DC4-specific and adhesion-inhibitory IgG increased with age among P. falciparum–exposed children. Our study challenges earlier conclusions that group A PfEMP1 proteins are not central to ICAM-1–specific IE adhesion and support the feasibility of developing a vaccine preventing cerebral malaria by inhibiting cerebral IE sequestration.
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 27-05-2019
Location: United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
Location: United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
Location: United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
No related grants have been discovered for Matthew Higgins.