Two functional reticulocyte binding-like (RBL) invasion ligands of zoonotic Plasmodium knowlesi exhibit differential adhesion to monkey and human erythrocytes

Malaria Journal

Research

Esmeralda VS Meyer¹  Mary R Galinski²  Tuan M Tran³  Amma A Semenya⁴  John W Barnwell⁵ 

[1] Emory Vaccine Center and Yerkes National Primate Research Center, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, USA;Emory Vaccine Center and Yerkes National Primate Research Center, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, USA;Department of Medicine, Division of Infectious Diseases, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, GA, USA;Emory Vaccine Center and Yerkes National Primate Research Center, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, USA;Laboratory of Immunogenetics, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health, Rockville, MD, USA;Emory Vaccine Center and Yerkes National Primate Research Center, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, USA;Parasitic Diseases Branch, Division of Parasitic Diseases and Malaria, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, GA, USA;Malaria Branch, Division of Parasitic Diseases and Malaria, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, GA, USA;

关键词: Plasmodium knowlesi;    Malaria;    Erythrocyte;    Merozoite;    Adhesion;    Binding protein;    Reticulocyte;    Invasion ligand;    RBLs;   

DOI  :  10.1186/1475-2875-11-228

 received in 2012-01-10, accepted in 2012-07-06,  发布年份 2012

来源: Springer

【 摘 要 】

BackgroundPlasmodium knowlesi is a monkey malaria species that is becoming a serious public health concern infecting hundreds and perhaps thousands of humans in Southeast Asia. Invasion of erythrocytes by merozoites entails a cascade of molecular interactions. One step involves the adhesion of Plasmodium reticulocyte binding-like (RBL) proteins. Plasmodium knowlesi merozoites express only two RBL invasion ligands, known as Normocyte Binding Proteins (PkNBPXa and PkNBPXb).MethodsOverlapping N-terminal regions of PkNBPXa and PkNBPXb were expressed in COS7 cells and tested for surface expression and adhesion to rhesus monkey erythrocytes. Subsequent tests to study specific receptor ligand interactions included adhesion to a panel of human and non-human primate erythrocytes, enzymatic treatment, and site directed mutagenesis.ResultsAn N-terminal cysteine-rich region of PkNBPXb (PkNBPXb-II) exhibited specific adhesion to rhesus monkey erythrocytes. Mutation of four of five cysteines in PkNBPXb-II interfered with its surface expression on COS7 cells, suggesting disulphide bond conformation is critical for intracellular trafficking. Binding of PkNBPXb-II was abolished when rhesus erythrocytes were pre-treated with chymotrypsin, but not trypsin or neuraminidase. PkNBPXb-II also bound other Old World monkey species and gibbon erythrocytes. However, erythrocytes from other primate species including humans did not bind to PkNBPXb-II or native PkNBPXb. Importantly, unlike PkNBPXb, PkNBPXa bound human erythrocytes, and this binding was independent of the Duffy blood group determinant.ConclusionsThe data reported here begins to clarify the functional domains of the P. knowlesi RBLs. A binding domain has been identified and characterized in PkNBPXb. Notably, this study demonstrates that unlike PkNBPXb, PkNBPXa can bind to human erythrocytes, suggesting that PkNBPXa may function as a ligand to enable the invasion of P. knowlesi merozoites into human cells.

【 授权许可】

Unknown   
© Semenya et al.; licensee BioMed Central Ltd. 2012. This article is published under license to BioMed Central Ltd. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.