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Updated: Jan 31, 2026

Separation of Plasmodium falciparum Late Stage-infected Erythrocytes by Magnetic Means
Published on: March 2, 2013
Duffy binding-like 1α adhesin from Plasmodium falciparum recognizes ABH histo-blood group saccharide in a type
Isadora A Oliveira1, Laércio Pol-Fachin2, Sebastião T de Carvalho1
1Laboratório de Glicobiologia Estrutural e Funcional, Instituto de Biofísica Carlos Chagas Filho, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, 21941-902, Brazil.
Abstract:
The ability of erythrocytes, infected by Plasmodium falciparum, to adhere to endothelial cells (cytoadherence) and to capture uninfected erythrocyte (rosetting) is the leading cause of death by severe malaria. Evidences link the binding of the adhesin Duffy Binding Like1-α (DBL1α) domain to the ABH histo-blood antigens with formation of rosettes. Inspired by this very close relationship between the disease susceptibility and individual blood type, here we investigate the structural requirements involved in the interaction of DBL1α with A, B and H histo-blood determinants and their subtypes. Our results evidence the high preference of DBL1α to A epitopes, in comparison to B and H epitopes. DBL1α interacts with ABH epitopes in subtype specific manner, presenting a remarkable affinity for type 2 structures, Fucα1-2Galβ1-4GlcNAcβ1, particularly the A2 epitope. The contacts made by DBL1α binding pocket and the ABH histo-blood groups were mapped by theoretical methods and supported by NMR experiments.
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