Clonal variants of Plasmodium falciparum exhibit a narrow range of rolling velocities to host receptor CD36 under dynamic flow conditions.

Cytoadhesion of Plasmodium falciparum parasitized red blood cells (pRBCs) has been implicated in the virulence of malaria infection. Cytoadhesive interactions are mediated by the protein family of Plasmodium falciparum erythrocyte membrane protein 1 (PfEMP1). The PfEMP1 family is under strong antibody and binding selection, resulting in extensive sequence and size variation of the extracellular domains. Here, we investigated cytoadhesion of pRBCs to CD36, a common receptor of P. falciparum field isolates, under dynamic flow conditions. Isogeneic parasites, predominantly expressing single PfEMP1 variants, were evaluated for binding to recombinant CD36 under dynamic flow conditions using microfluidic devices. We tested if PfEMP1 size (number of extracellular domains) or sequence variation affected the pRBC-CD36 interaction. Our analysis showed that clonal parasite variants varied ∼5-fold in CD36 rolling velocity despite extensive PfEMP1 sequence polymorphism. In addition, adherent pRBCs exhibited a characteristic hysteresis in rolling velocity at microvascular flow rates, which was accompanied by changes in pRBC shape and may represent important adaptations that favor stable binding.

Glycan masking of Plasmodium vivax Duffy Binding Protein for probing protein binding function and vaccine development.

Glycan masking is an emerging vaccine design strategy to focus antibody responses to specific epitopes, but it has mostly been evaluated on the already heavily glycosylated HIV gp120 envelope glycoprotein. Here this approach was used to investigate the binding interaction of Plasmodium vivax Duffy Binding Protein (PvDBP) and the Duffy Antigen Receptor for Chemokines (DARC) and to evaluate if glycan-masked PvDBPII immunogens would focus the antibody response on key interaction surfaces. Four variants of PVDBPII were generated and probed for function and immunogenicity. Whereas two PvDBPII glycosylation variants with increased glycan surface coverage distant from predicted interaction sites had equivalent binding activity to wild-type protein, one of them elicited slightly better DARC-binding-inhibitory activity than wild-type immunogen. Conversely, the addition of an N-glycosylation site adjacent to a predicted PvDBP interaction site both abolished its interaction with DARC and resulted in weaker inhibitory antibody responses. PvDBP is composed of three subdomains and is thought to function as a dimer; a meta-analysis of published PvDBP mutants and the new DBPII glycosylation variants indicates that critical DARC binding residues are concentrated at the dimer interface and along a relatively flat surface spanning portions of two subdomains. Our findings suggest that DARC-binding-inhibitory antibody epitope(s) lie close to the predicted DARC interaction site, and that addition of N-glycan sites distant from this site may augment inhibitory antibodies. Thus, glycan resurfacing is an attractive and feasible tool to investigate protein structure-function, and glycan-masked PvDBPII immunogens might contribute to P. vivax vaccine development.

A restricted subset of var genes mediates adherence of Plasmodium falciparum-infected erythrocytes to brain endothelial cells.

Cerebral malaria (CM) is a deadly complication of Plasmodium falciparum infection, but specific interactions involved in cerebral homing of infected erythrocytes (IEs) are poorly understood. In this study, P. falciparum-IEs were characterized for binding to primary human brain microvascular endothelial cells (HBMECs). Before selection, CD36 or ICAM-1-binding parasites exhibited punctate binding to a subpopulation of HBMECs and binding was CD36 dependent. Panning of IEs on HBMECs led to a more dispersed binding phenotype and the selection of three var genes, including two that encode the tandem domain cassette 8 (DC8) and were non-CD36 binders. Multiple domains in the DC8 cassette bound to brain endothelium and the cysteine-rich interdomain region 1 inhibited binding of P. falciparum-IEs by 50%, highlighting a key role for the DC8 cassette in cerebral binding. It is mysterious how deadly binding variants are maintained in the parasite population. Clonal parasite lines expressing the two brain-adherent DC8-var genes did not bind to any of the known microvascular receptors, indicating unique receptors are involved in cerebral binding. They could also adhere to brain, lung, dermis, and heart endothelial cells, suggesting cerebral binding variants may have alternative sequestration sites. Furthermore, young African children with CM or nonsevere control cases had antibodies to HBMEC-selected parasites, indicating they had been exposed to related variants during childhood infections. This analysis shows that specific P. falciparum erythrocyte membrane protein 1 types are linked to cerebral binding and suggests a potential mechanism by which individuals may build up immunity to severe disease, in the absence of CM.

Investigating the host binding signature on the Plasmodium falciparum PfEMP1 protein family.

The Plasmodium falciparum erythrocyte membrane protein 1 (PfEMP1) family plays a central role in antigenic variation and cytoadhesion of P. falciparum infected erythrocytes. PfEMP1 proteins/var genes are classified into three main subfamilies (UpsA, UpsB, and UpsC) that are hypothesized to have different roles in binding and disease. To investigate whether these subfamilies have diverged in binding specificity and test if binding could be predicted by adhesion domain classification, we generated a panel of 19 parasite lines that primarily expressed a single dominant var transcript and assayed binding against 12 known host receptors. By limited dilution cloning, only UpsB and UpsC var genes were isolated, indicating that UpsA var gene expression is rare under in vitro culture conditions. Consequently, three UpsA variants were obtained by rosette purification and selection with specific monoclonal antibodies to create a more representative panel. Binding assays showed that CD36 was the most common adhesion partner of the parasite panel, followed by ICAM-1 and TSP-1, and that CD36 and ICAM-1 binding variants were highly predicted by adhesion domain sequence classification. Binding to other host receptors, including CSA, VCAM-1, HABP1, CD31/PECAM, E-selectin, Endoglin, CHO receptor "X", and Fractalkine, was rare or absent. Our findings identify a category of larger PfEMP1 proteins that are under dual selection for ICAM-1 and CD36 binding. They also support that the UpsA group, in contrast to UpsB and UpsC var genes, has diverged from binding to the major microvasculature receptor CD36 and likely uses other mechanisms to sequester in the microvasculature. These results demonstrate that CD36 and ICAM-1 have left strong signatures of selection on the PfEMP1 family that can be detected by adhesion domain sequence classification and have implications for how this family of proteins is specializing to exploit hosts with varying levels of anti-malaria immunity.

Structural polymorphism and diversifying selection on the pregnancy malaria vaccine candidate VAR2CSA.

VAR2CSA is the main candidate for a pregnancy malaria vaccine, but vaccine development may be complicated by sequence polymorphism. Here, we obtained partial or full-length var2CSA sequences from 106 parasites and applied novel computational methods and three-dimensional modeling to investigate VAR2CSA geographic variation and selection pressure. Our analysis reveals structural patterns of VAR2CSA sequence variation in which polymorphic sites group into segments of limited diversity. Within these segments, two or three basic types characterize a substantial majority of the parasite samples. Comparison to the primate malaria Plasmodium reichenowi shows that these basic types have ancient origins. Globally, var2CSA genes are comprised of a mosaic of these ancestral polymorphic segments that have recombined extensively between var2CSA alleles. Three-dimensional modeling reveals that polymorphic segments concentrate in flexible loops at characteristic locations in the six VAR2CSA Duffy binding-like (DBL) adhesion domains. Individual DBL domain surfaces have distinct patterns of diversifying selection, suggesting that limited and differing portions of each DBL domain are targeted by host antibody. Since standard phylogenetic tree analysis is inadequate for highly recombining genes like var2CSA, we developed a novel phylogenetic approach that incorporates recombination and tracks new mutations in segment types. In the resulting tree, P. reichenowi is confirmed as an outlier and African and Asian P. falciparum isolates have slightly diverged. These findings validate a new approach to modeling protein evolution in the presence of frequent recombination and provide a clearer understanding of how var gene products function as immunoevasive binding ligands.

Global genetic diversity and evolution of var genes associated with placental and severe childhood malaria.

In Plasmodium falciparum, var genes encode adhesive proteins that are transported to the surface of infected erythrocytes and act as major virulence determinants for infected erythrocyte binding and immune evasion. Var genes are highly diverse and can be classified into five major groups (UpsA, B, C, D, and E). Previous serological studies have suggested that the UpsA var group may contain common antigenic types that have important roles in severe childhood malaria. Here, our analysis found that UpsA vars are highly diverse between 22 world-wide parasite isolates, although they could be grouped into two broad clusters that may be separately recombining. By comparison, orthologs of the UpsA-linked Type 3 var and UpsE-linked var2csa were detected in nearly all parasite isolates, and a var2csa ortholog was also present in a chimpanzee malaria P. reichenowi that diverged from P. falciparum approximately 5-7 million years ago. Although the specific function of Type 3 var genes is unknown, var2csa is a leading candidate for a pregnancy associated malaria vaccine. Compared to typical var genes, var2csa is unusually conserved but still had only 54-94% amino acid identity in extracellular binding regions. However, var2csa alleles have extensive gene mosaicism within polymorphic blocks that are shared between world-wide parasite isolates and recognizable in P. rechenowi suggesting a high rate of self-self recombination and an ancient and globally-related pool of var2csa polymorphism. These studies aid our understanding of the evolutionary mechanisms that shape var diversity and will be important to the development of vaccines against pregnancy associated malaria and severe malaria.

Correction of cellular phenotypes of Hutchinson-Gilford Progeria cells by RNA interference.

The great majority of cases of the Hutchinson-Gilford progeroid syndrome (HGPS) ("Progeria of Childhood'') are caused by a single nucleotide mutation (1824 C->T) in the LMNA gene which encodes lamin A and C, nuclear intermediate filaments that are important components of the nuclear lamina. The resultant mutant protein (Delta50 lamin A) is thought to act in a dominant fashion. We exploited RNA interference technology to suppress Delta50 lamin A expression, with the long range goal of intervening in the pathogenesis of the coronary artery atherosclerosis that typically leads to the death of HGPS patients. Short hairpin RNA (shRNA) constructs were designed to target the mutated pre-spliced or mature LMNA mRNAs, and were expressed in HGPS fibroblasts carrying the 1824 C->T mutations using lentiviruses. One of the shRNAs targeted to the mutated mRNA reduced the expression levels of Delta50 lamin A to 26% or lower. The reduced expression was associated with amelioration of abnormal nuclear morphology, improvement of proliferative potential, and reduction in the numbers of senescent cells. These findings provide a rationale for potential gene therapy.