Antibodies against PfEMP1, RIFIN, MSP3 and GLURP Are Acquired during Controlled Plasmodium falciparum Malaria Infections in Naı̈ve Volunteers

Antibodies to polymorphic antigens expressed during the parasites erythrocytic stages are important mediators of protective immunity against P. falciparum malaria. Therefore, polymorphic blood stage antigens like MSP3, EBA-175 and GLURP and variant surface antigens PfEMP1 and RIFIN are considered vaccine candidates. However, to what extent these antibodies to blood stage antigens are acquired during naive individuals’ first infections has not been studied in depth. Using plasma samples collected from controlled experimental P. falciparum infections we show that antibodies against variant surface antigens, PfEMP1 and RIFIN as well as MSP3 and GLURP, are acquired during a single short low density P. falciparum infection in non-immune individuals including strain transcendent PfEMP1 immune responses. These data indicate that the immunogenicity of the variant surface antigens is similar to the less diverse merozoite antigens. The acquisition of a broad and strain transcendent repertoire of PfEMP1 antibodies may reflect a parasite strategy of expressing most or all PfEMP1 variants at liver release optimizing the likelihood of survival and establishment of chronic infections in the new host. Citation: Turner L, Wang CW, Lavstsen T, Mwakalinga SB, Sauerwein RW, et al. (2011) Antibodies against PfEMP1, RIFIN, MSP3 and GLURP Are Acquired during Controlled Plasmodium falciparum Malaria Infections in Naı̈ve Volunteers. PLoS ONE 6(12): e29025. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0029025 Editor: Georges Snounou, Université Pierre et Marie Curie, France Received August 18, 2011; Accepted November 18, 2011; Published December 12, 2011 Copyright: 2011 Turner et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. Funding: LT was funded by Copenhagen University Star program. CWW was supported by The Danish Medical Research Council (grant reference number 27108-0540). TL was supported by the Grand Challenges in Global Health program and The Danish Medical Research Council. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript. Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist. * E-mail: [email protected]