SUMMARY OF THESIS* * This thesis is available at the Library of the Instituto de Medicina Tropical de São Paulo
KIRCHGATTER, Karin Análise de seqüências var de populações naturais de Plasmodium falciparum da Amazônia Brasileira. São Paulo, 2001. (Tese de Doutorado Instituto de Ciências Biomédicas da Universidade de São Paulo).
ANALYSIS OF VAR SEQUENCES FROM NATURAL PARASITE POPULATIONS OF Plasmodium falciparum IN THE BRAZILIAN AMAZON
Plasmodium falciparum var genes code for PfEMP1, a protein expressed on the surface of infected erythrocytes, and which mediates cytoadherence and rosetting. Both phenomena are directly associated with severe malaria and the most N-terminal domain, DBL1a, specifically mediates rosetting. DBL1a sequence analysis from Brazilian and worldwide isolates revealed that sequence similarities cannot predict geographical origin. To determine whether there are DBL1a sequences associated with severe malaria, we examined expressed var DBL1a sequences in patients with severe malaria from the Brazilian Amazon and found that the predominantly expressed DBL1a sequences from these parasites lacked 1-2 cysteine residues. Significantly, these sequences were amply found on the genomic repertoire of parasites from patients with mild malaria and yet they were rarely expressed. These data demonstrate the first association of particular PfEMP1 expressed sequences and severe malaria in patients from the Brazilian Amazon.
Karin Kirchgatter
Publication Dates
-
Publication in this collection
15 Oct 2002 -
Date of issue
Apr 2002
