B cell memory to 3 Plasmodium falciparum blood-stage antigens in a malaria-endemic area.

Journal article

To gain insight into why antibody responses to malarial antigens tend to be short lived, we studied antigen-specific memory B cells from donors in an area where malaria is endemic. We compared antibody and memory B cell responses to tetanus toxoid with those to 3 Plasmodium falciparum candidate vaccine antigens: the C-terminal portion of merozoite surface protein 1 (MSP1(19)), apical membrane antigen 1 (AMA1), and the cysteine-rich interdomain region 1 alpha (CIDR1 alpha ) of a protein from the P. falciparum erythrocyte membrane protein 1 (PfEMP1) family. These data are the first to be generated on memory B cells in children who are in the process of acquiring antimalarial immunity, and they reveal defects in B cell memory to P. falciparum antigens. Compared with the results for tetanus toxoid, more donors who were positive for antibody to AMA1 and CIDR1 alpha were negative for memory B cells. These data imply that some exposures to malaria do not result in the establishment of stable populations of circulating antigen-specific memory B cells, suggesting possible mechanisms for the short-lived nature of many anti-malarial antibody responses.

Authors: Dorfman, JR; Bejon, P; Ndungu, F; Langhorne, J; Kortok, M

• Publication status: Published
• Journal: Journal of infectious diseases
• Volume: 191
• Issue: 10
• Pages: 1623-1630
• Publication date: 2005-05-01
• DOI: 10.1086/429671
• EISSN: 1537-6613
• ISSN: 0022-1899
• Language: English
• Keywords: Plasmodium falciparum; Animals; Adult; Protein Subunits; Malaria, Falciparum; Merozoite Surface Protein 1; Child; Antigens, Protozoan; B-Lymphocytes; Protozoan Proteins; Antibodies, Protozoan; Immunologic Memory; Age Factors; Infant; Membrane Proteins; Humans; Child, Preschool