Antibody-mediated immune response against Plasmodium falciparum in African infants

• Applicant: Professor Dr. Jürgen Kun (†)
• Subject Area: Immunology
• Term: from 2002 to 2006
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 5401797

Antibodies play an important role in the mediation of immunity against malaria. Adults in malaria-endemic regions have a semi-immune status, often harbouring parasites in the blood but usually without symptoms of malaria. Children however are at greatest risk of malaria attacks which may lead to clinical complications and even death. Surviving the first malaria attacks seems to be important in protecting infants against subsequent development of severe malaria, and recent studies have shown that chemotherapeutic interventions in the first year of life can be beneficial in this regard. The main aim of this proposal is to make quantitative und qualitative measurements of the antibodies directed to the parasite-derived antigens expressed at the surface of Plasmodium falciparum-infected erythrocytes, and to assess their role in Mediating the protection against clinical malaria afforded by intermittent treatment with sulfadoxine-pyrimethamine. For this purpose we will concentrate our attention on Plasmodium falciparum erythrocyte membrane protein (PfEMP)-1 and propose to establish the relative importance of conserved and variable regions of this molecule in inducing antibodies that are associated with protection against malaria episodes.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants
• Participating Person: Dr. Adrian J.F. Luty