Poster Presentation: Development of monoclonal antibodies targeting the surface of Plasmodium falciparum-infected human erythrocytes

Cytoadhesion of Plasmodium falciparum-infected erythrocytes to endothelial cells lining the micro vessels of host organs is mainly linked to severe malaria infection. Cytoadhesion is mediated through the binding of P. falciparum erythrocyte membrane protein-1 (PfEMP-1) to various host receptors including Intercellular Adhesion Molecule 1 (ICAM-1), which has a role in cerebral malaria. In our study, we aim to develop monoclonal antibodies(mAbs) that target the potential adhesive Duffy Binding Like(DBL^a)domains of PfEMP-1 from ICAM-1 binding parasites.

mAbs were raised against four recombinant proteins namely rDBL13, rDBL27, rDBL31 and rDBL41. We developed thirteen distinct monoclonal and polyclonal hybridoma clones that secrete IgM-class antibodies capable of recognizing the immunizing rDBL^a proteins. Flow cytometry results indicated that at least five monoclonal and polyclonal antibodies significantly labelled the surface of erythrocytes infected with IT4var16, IT4var14, IT4var13 and IT4var1 strains. These data suggest that oligomeric IgM may be developed to interfere with the ability of parasitized erythrocytes (PEs) to sequester and thereby reduce the mortality rate of cerebral malaria infection.