The effects of a partitioned var gene repertoire of Plasmodium falciparum on antigenic diversity and the acquisition of clinical immunity
Abstract Background The human malaria parasite Plasmodium falciparum exploits antigenic diversity and within-host antigenic variation to evade the host's immune system. Of particular importance are the highly polymorphic var genes that encode the family of cell surface antigens PfEMP1 ( Plasmod...
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ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:06b22d7a49384a7d85c8769f149e4aff 2023-05-15T15:10:52+02:00 The effects of a partitioned var gene repertoire of Plasmodium falciparum on antigenic diversity and the acquisition of clinical immunity Arinaminpathy Nimalan Recker Mario Buckee Caroline O 2008-01-01T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.1186/1475-2875-7-18 https://doaj.org/article/06b22d7a49384a7d85c8769f149e4aff EN eng BMC http://www.malariajournal.com/content/7/1/18 https://doaj.org/toc/1475-2875 doi:10.1186/1475-2875-7-18 1475-2875 https://doaj.org/article/06b22d7a49384a7d85c8769f149e4aff Malaria Journal, Vol 7, Iss 1, p 18 (2008) Arctic medicine. Tropical medicine RC955-962 Infectious and parasitic diseases RC109-216 article 2008 ftdoajarticles https://doi.org/10.1186/1475-2875-7-18 2022-12-30T22:42:55Z Abstract Background The human malaria parasite Plasmodium falciparum exploits antigenic diversity and within-host antigenic variation to evade the host's immune system. Of particular importance are the highly polymorphic var genes that encode the family of cell surface antigens PfEMP1 ( Plasmodium falciparum Erythrocyte Membrane Protein 1). It has recently been shown that in spite of their extreme diversity, however, these genes fall into distinct groups according to chromosomal location or sequence similarity, and that recombination may be confined within these groups. Methods This study presents a mathematical analysis of how recombination hierarchies affect diversity, and, by using simple stochastic simulations, investigates how intra- and inter-genic diversity influence the rate at which individuals acquire clinical immunity. Results The analysis demonstrates that the partitioning of the var gene repertoire has a limiting effect on the total diversity attainable through recombination and that the limiting effect is strongly influenced by the respective sizes of each of the partitions. Furthermore, by associating expression of one of the groups with severe malaria it is demonstrated how a small number of infections can be sufficient to protect against disease despite a seemingly limitless number of possible non-identical repertoires. Conclusion Recombination hierarchies within the var gene repertoire of P. falciparum have a severe effect on strain diversity and the process of acquiring immunity against clinical malaria. Future studies will show how the existence of these recombining groups can offer an evolutionary advantage in spite of their restriction on diversity. Article in Journal/Newspaper Arctic Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles Arctic Malaria Journal 7 1 |
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Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles |
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ftdoajarticles |
language |
English |
topic |
Arctic medicine. Tropical medicine RC955-962 Infectious and parasitic diseases RC109-216 |
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Arctic medicine. Tropical medicine RC955-962 Infectious and parasitic diseases RC109-216 Arinaminpathy Nimalan Recker Mario Buckee Caroline O The effects of a partitioned var gene repertoire of Plasmodium falciparum on antigenic diversity and the acquisition of clinical immunity |
topic_facet |
Arctic medicine. Tropical medicine RC955-962 Infectious and parasitic diseases RC109-216 |
description |
Abstract Background The human malaria parasite Plasmodium falciparum exploits antigenic diversity and within-host antigenic variation to evade the host's immune system. Of particular importance are the highly polymorphic var genes that encode the family of cell surface antigens PfEMP1 ( Plasmodium falciparum Erythrocyte Membrane Protein 1). It has recently been shown that in spite of their extreme diversity, however, these genes fall into distinct groups according to chromosomal location or sequence similarity, and that recombination may be confined within these groups. Methods This study presents a mathematical analysis of how recombination hierarchies affect diversity, and, by using simple stochastic simulations, investigates how intra- and inter-genic diversity influence the rate at which individuals acquire clinical immunity. Results The analysis demonstrates that the partitioning of the var gene repertoire has a limiting effect on the total diversity attainable through recombination and that the limiting effect is strongly influenced by the respective sizes of each of the partitions. Furthermore, by associating expression of one of the groups with severe malaria it is demonstrated how a small number of infections can be sufficient to protect against disease despite a seemingly limitless number of possible non-identical repertoires. Conclusion Recombination hierarchies within the var gene repertoire of P. falciparum have a severe effect on strain diversity and the process of acquiring immunity against clinical malaria. Future studies will show how the existence of these recombining groups can offer an evolutionary advantage in spite of their restriction on diversity. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Arinaminpathy Nimalan Recker Mario Buckee Caroline O |
author_facet |
Arinaminpathy Nimalan Recker Mario Buckee Caroline O |
author_sort |
Arinaminpathy Nimalan |
title |
The effects of a partitioned var gene repertoire of Plasmodium falciparum on antigenic diversity and the acquisition of clinical immunity |
title_short |
The effects of a partitioned var gene repertoire of Plasmodium falciparum on antigenic diversity and the acquisition of clinical immunity |
title_full |
The effects of a partitioned var gene repertoire of Plasmodium falciparum on antigenic diversity and the acquisition of clinical immunity |
title_fullStr |
The effects of a partitioned var gene repertoire of Plasmodium falciparum on antigenic diversity and the acquisition of clinical immunity |
title_full_unstemmed |
The effects of a partitioned var gene repertoire of Plasmodium falciparum on antigenic diversity and the acquisition of clinical immunity |
title_sort |
effects of a partitioned var gene repertoire of plasmodium falciparum on antigenic diversity and the acquisition of clinical immunity |
publisher |
BMC |
publishDate |
2008 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.1186/1475-2875-7-18 https://doaj.org/article/06b22d7a49384a7d85c8769f149e4aff |
geographic |
Arctic |
geographic_facet |
Arctic |
genre |
Arctic |
genre_facet |
Arctic |
op_source |
Malaria Journal, Vol 7, Iss 1, p 18 (2008) |
op_relation |
http://www.malariajournal.com/content/7/1/18 https://doaj.org/toc/1475-2875 doi:10.1186/1475-2875-7-18 1475-2875 https://doaj.org/article/06b22d7a49384a7d85c8769f149e4aff |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1186/1475-2875-7-18 |
container_title |
Malaria Journal |
container_volume |
7 |
container_issue |
1 |
_version_ |
1766341810747080704 |