The serum resistance of malaria-infected erythrocytes

Abstract

IgG and IgM antibodies were detected on non-parasitized as well as parasitized erythrocytes (E) from mice surviving over 15 days after infection with rodent malaria, Plasmodium berghei, whereas C3 was detected exclusively on parasitized E. Parasitized E, however, were quite resistant to the haemolytic activity of guinea pig complement and effectively inactivated human C3b to iC3b on their surface. Similarly, parasitized E were extremely resistant to homologous complement as assessed by haemolysis and C3 binding even when regulatory proteins (decay-accelerating factor, DAF; complement receptor related gene y, Crry; heat-stable antigen, HSA) were blocked with specific antibodies. DAF and Crry were equally expressed on both normal E and parasitized E from mice within a week post-infection; therefore, molecules that inhibit the haemolysis or C3 binding of parasitized E appear to be independent of DAF and Crry. Unexpectedly, the molecular forms of HSA and DAF in parasitized erythrocyte membranes were found to be different from those of normal erythrocyte membranes: DAF was detected as three bands (85000, 64000 and 30000 MW) by immunoblotting. HSA was detected as more highly glycosylated forms than normal HSA. These alterations of DAF and HSA could be explained by the modification of membrane proteins and polysaccharides induced by parasitization, and we hypothesize that these changes of membranes or membrane proteins are involved in the resistance of parasitized E against homologous complement.