CD4+ T cell responses to the Plasmodium falciparum erythrocyte membrane protein 1 in children with mild malaria

J Immunol. 2014 Feb 15;192(4):1753-61. doi: 10.4049/jimmunol.1200547. Epub 2014 Jan 22.

Abstract

The immune response against the variant surface Ag Plasmodium falciparum erythrocyte membrane protein 1 (PfEMP1) is a key component of clinical immunity against malaria. We have investigated the development and maintenance of CD4(+) T cell responses to a small semiconserved area of the Duffy binding-like domain (DBL)α-domain of PfEMP1, the DBLα-tag. Young children were followed up longitudinally, and parasites and PBMCs were isolated from 35 patients presenting with an acute case of uncomplicated malaria. The DBLα-tag from the PfEMP1 dominantly expressed by the homologous parasite isolate was cloned and expressed as recombinant protein. The recombinant DBLα-tag was used to activate PBMCs collected from each acute episode and from an annual cross-sectional survey performed after the acute malaria episode. In this article, we report that CD4(+) T cell responses to the homologous DBLα-tag were induced in 75% of the children at the time of the acute episode and in 62% of the children at the following cross-sectional survey on average 235 d later. Furthermore, children who had induced DBLα-tag-specific CD4(+)IL-4(+) T cells at the acute episode remained episode free for longer than children who induced other types of CD4(+) T cell responses. These results suggest that a wide range of DBLα-tag-specific CD4(+) T cell responses were induced in children with mild malaria and, in the case of CD4(+)IL-4(+) T cell responses, were associated with protection from clinical episodes.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Antibodies, Protozoan / immunology*
  • Antigens, Protozoan / immunology
  • CD4-Positive T-Lymphocytes / immunology*
  • Child
  • Child, Preschool
  • Cohort Studies
  • Erythrocytes / immunology
  • Erythrocytes / parasitology
  • Female
  • Humans
  • Interferon-gamma / metabolism
  • Interleukin-4 / metabolism
  • Kenya
  • Malaria, Falciparum / immunology*
  • Male
  • Molecular Sequence Data
  • Plasmodium falciparum / immunology
  • Protein Structure, Tertiary
  • Protozoan Proteins / immunology*

Substances

  • Antibodies, Protozoan
  • Antigens, Protozoan
  • IL4 protein, human
  • Protozoan Proteins
  • erythrocyte membrane protein 1, Plasmodium falciparum
  • Interleukin-4
  • Interferon-gamma

Associated data

  • GENBANK/HE863905
  • GENBANK/HE863906
  • GENBANK/HE863907
  • GENBANK/HE863908
  • GENBANK/HE863909
  • GENBANK/HE863910
  • GENBANK/HE863911
  • GENBANK/HE863912
  • GENBANK/HE863913
  • GENBANK/HE863914
  • GENBANK/HE863915
  • GENBANK/HE863916
  • GENBANK/HE863917
  • GENBANK/HE863918
  • GENBANK/HE863919
  • GENBANK/HE863920
  • GENBANK/HE863921
  • GENBANK/HE863922
  • GENBANK/HE863923
  • GENBANK/HE863924
  • GENBANK/HE863925
  • GENBANK/HE863926
  • GENBANK/HE863927
  • GENBANK/HE863928
  • GENBANK/HE863929
  • GENBANK/HE863930
  • GENBANK/HE863931
  • GENBANK/HE863932
  • GENBANK/HE863933
  • GENBANK/HE863934
  • GENBANK/HE863935
  • GENBANK/HE863936
  • GENBANK/HE863937
  • GENBANK/HE863938
  • GENBANK/HE863939
  • GENBANK/HE863940