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272 Differential expression of two Plasmodium falciparum variant surface antigen families in Malian children with cerebral malaria compared to mild malaria

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  24 April 2023

Jonathan G. Lawton
Affiliation:
University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA
Albert E. Zhou
Affiliation:
University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA
Drissa Coulibaly
Affiliation:
University of Sciences, Techniques and Technologies, Bamako, Mali
Emily M. Stucke
Affiliation:
University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA
Antoine Dara
Affiliation:
University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA University of Sciences, Techniques and Technologies, Bamako, Mali
Matthew B. Laurens
Affiliation:
University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA
Joana C. Silva
Affiliation:
University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA
Mahamadou A. Thera
Affiliation:
University of Sciences, Techniques and Technologies, Bamako, Mali
Mark A. Travassos
Affiliation:
University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA
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Abstract

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OBJECTIVES/GOALS: Recent in vitro evidence suggests that diverse parasite protein families called RIFINs and STEVORs are displayed on the surface of infected red blood cells and may have a role in severe malaria, but they remain sparsely studied in natural infections. We measured the RNA expression of these antigens in Malian children with severe or mild malaria illness. METHODS/STUDY POPULATION: We collected blood samples from Malian children aged six months to five years, including 14 with cerebral malaria, 10 with severe malarial anemia, and demographic-matched controls with mild, uncomplicated malaria. We extracted total RNA from each patient and used a custom capture array to selectively enrich Plasmodium falciparum parasite RNA. We then performed Illumina next-generation RNA sequencing and reconstructed parasite transcriptomes using reference-free de novo assembly. We identified RNA encoding RIFINs and STEVORs using an in-house classifier, then measured the diversity and abundance of gene expression for each infection. Expression diversity was defined as the number of unique variants transcribed. Expression abundance was calculated as transcripts per million (TPM). RESULTS/ANTICIPATED RESULTS: Cerebral malaria cases, but not severe malarial anemia cases, had higher diversity and abundance of RIFIN expression compared to mild infections. Type A RIFINs predominated over Type B RIFINs, and the same two RIFINs were predominantly expressed in all disease phenotypes. We anticipate that predominantly expressed RIFINs share high sequence homology with variants previously shown to bind blood antigens or immune inhibitory receptors. STEVOR expression was also higher in cerebral malaria compared to mild malaria, but STEVOR transcripts were sparse overall. DISCUSSION/SIGNIFICANCE: Elevated RIFIN expression in cerebral malaria over mild malaria supports a role for these antigens in pathogenesis. Severe malarial anemia may progress through a different pathogenic mechanism. Predominantly expressed RIFIN variants may be promising targets for vaccines and therapeutics to protect children against cerebral malaria.

Type
Precision Medicine/Health
Creative Commons
Creative Common License - CCCreative Common License - BYCreative Common License - NCCreative Common License - ND
This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives licence (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/), which permits non-commercial re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is unaltered and is properly cited. The written permission of Cambridge University Press must be obtained for commercial re-use or in order to create a derivative work.
Copyright
© The Author(s), 2023. The Association for Clinical and Translational Science