Hydrophobic interactions in Plasmodium falciparum invasion into human erythrocytes

Malaria parasite invasion: interactions with the red cell membrane

The capacity to invade red cells is central to the biology of malaria parasites; both asexual multiplication and reinfection of the definitive mosquito host depend upon intraerythrocytic stages. The invasion process is complex. The briefly free merozoite specifically recognizes and adheres to ligands on the red cell surface, then alters the red cell membrane to produce an invagination into which it moves, and so becomes enclosed in a membrane-bound parasitophorous vacuole. Here we assess new evidence that bears on our understanding of this process. This has come from sources including biochemical and ultrastructural studies of the specialized surface and organelles of merozoites, from in vitro invasion studies using naturally refractory or artificially modified red cells, and from structural, chemical, and immunological analyses of the newly parasitized cell.

Malaria invasion of human erythrocytes

The invasion of human red blood cells (RBC) by plosmodiol merozoites is a key event during malaria infection, and the inhibition o f invasion is regarded as a crucial goal of malaria vaccine development. For Plasmodium falciparum it has been suggested that the red cell sialoglycoproteins, glycophorins A, B and C, are receptors for invasion and that O-linked or N-linked carbohydrate structures may be involved as receptor sites(1-3). However, recent evidence suggests that the role o f these sialoglycoproteins and carbohydrates may have been overestimated. In this article, Peter Hermentin discusses the contradictory findings and presents a revised model for the invasion process.

Inhibition of malaria parasite invasion of human erythrocytes by a lymphocyte membrane polypeptide

Extraction by boiling of the buffy coat of human blood yields a protein solution which inhibits the propagation of the human malaria parasite Plasmodium falciparum in culture with a 50% inhibitory dose of 105 micrograms of protein per ml. The inhibitory activity is associated exclusively with the lymphocytes and affects solely the invasion of erythrocytes by free merozoites. Boiled extracts of isolated lymphocytes had a 50% inhibitory dose of 22 micrograms/ml. Fractionation of surface-labeled or pronase-treated lymphocytes revealed that the antimalarial lymphocyte factor is associated with the intracellular aspect of the membrane fraction and is probably not involved in the host defense system against malaria. Further purification by salt extraction, ion-exchange chromatography, molecular gel filtration, and electroelution from lithium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gels resulted in 300- to 550-fold purification, i.e., a 50% inhibitory dose of 40 to 70 ng/ml. All inhibitory fractions contained a 48-kilodalton polypeptide which eluted from a gel filtration column as a 400-kilodalton species, implying multimeric association. Some 6,000 molecules of the 48-kilodalton polypeptide bind with high affinity to one merozoite, the free form of the parasite. The Kd of 0.1 to 0.5 nM for the binding of the 48-kilodalton polypeptide correlated well with the 50% inhibitory dose of 0.3 to 0.4 nM obtained with purified active antimalarial lymphocyte factor. We therefore suggest that the 48-kilodalton polypeptide partially purified from lymphocyte membranes is the antimalarial lymphocyte factor and that it exerts its inhibitory activity by binding to merozoites, thereby preventing their invasion into erythrocytes. The antimalarial lymphocyte factor or a polypeptide sequence thereof could serve for further probing of invasion at the molecular level.

Toxic effect of isolated glycophorin A on the in vitro growth of Plasmodium falciparum

We have examined the inhibitory potencies of glycophorin A, a mixture of glycophorins B and C, chymotryptic fragments of GpA, desialylated GpA, alkaliborohydride treated GpA, and the O-linked tetrasaccharide isolated from GpA on the invasion of human red blood cells by synchronous Plasmodium falciparum (strain FCB). 50% inhibition of invasion, as measured by 3H-hypoxanthine incorporation into parasites, was achieved at 14 and 155 microM for GpA and GpA-CH1, respectively. We have noticed, however, that isolated GpA exhibits a toxic effect on the intraerythrocytic growth of the parasite whereas the chymotryptic fragment (amino acid residues 1-64 of GpA) does not. Thus the inhibitory potency of isolated GpA during erythrocyte invasion by the merozoite should be regarded as the result of both an inhibitory and a toxic effect. The inhibitory effect should be attributed to the carbohydrate-rich outer portion of GpA carrying clusters of neuraminic acid. The toxic effect should be attributed to the hydrophobic region of GpA which might be capable of inserting into the membrane of free merozoites and/or erythrocytes. Our data suggest that results previously obtained with glycoprotein inhibitors carrying hydrophobic portions may have to be questioned.

Receptors for the malarial parasite

During the erythrocytic cycle of Plasmodium, the parasite develops within an enclosed space, the parasitophorous vacuole, formed by endocytosis of an invasive stage, the merozoite. Among the erythrocyte membrane proteins possibly acting as a receptor for the attachment of P. falciparum merozoites to human erythrocytes is glycophorin A. Isolated glycophorin inhibits merozoite entry in a competitive manner, perhaps via association with a 155 kDa surface protein. Another protein that competitively inhibits merozoite invasion, is band 3, the erythrocyte anion transport protein. The protein bearing Duffy blood group antigens may act to modulate invasion, but does not behave as a receptor.

Phospholipid dependence of Wrb antigen expression in human erythrocyte membranes

Phospholipid depletion of human erythrocyte membranes by phospholipase A2 modification markedly decreased binding of two monoclonal antibodies to the Wrb (Wright) blood group determinant on glycophorin A. Binding of seven monoclonal antibodies to other glycophorin A determinants, including anti-M and anti-N, was unaffected by phospholipid depletion. These results indicate that Wrb antigen expression is phospholipid-dependent in human erythrocyte membranes.

Plasmodium falciparum: carbohydrates as receptor sites of invasion

Monosaccharides, disaccharides, and trisaccharides were tested as inhibitors of the in vitro growth of Plasmodium falciparum (strain FCB). While certain monosaccharides (N-acetyl-D-glucosamine, D-mannose, and 3-O-methyl-D-glucose) proved to exhibit a toxic or reversibly retarding effect on the intraerythrocytic development of the parasite, the corresponding alpha- or beta-methylglycosides did not. Several methylglycosides, synthetic di- and tri-saccharides, and artificial blood group antigens were further tested for inhibitory effects on invasion of host red blood cells in vitro. The synthetic disaccharides beta DGlcNAc(1----4) alpha DManOMe and beta DGlcNAc(1----4) DGlcNAc (chitobiose) were good inhibitors of invasion at 10 mM concentration, whereas beta DGal(1----4)beta DGlcNAcOMe was negligibly inhibitory. The inhibition rate of N-acetyl-D-glucosamine, beta-glycosidically linked to bovine serum albumin (BSA) by an alipathic spacer, -(CH2)8CO-, was not enhanced, compared to the corresponding hapten, beta DGlcNAcO(CH2)8COOCH3. The inhibition rates of blood group A- and B-trisaccharide haptens, which were inhibitors of invasion, were also not significantly enhanced when coupled to BSA by way of the corresponding amide spacer, -(CH2)2NHCO(CH2)7CO-. A remarkable enhancement of the inhibition rate was, however, observed when beta DGal(1----3) alpha DGalNAcO(CH2)2NHCO(CH2)7COOCH3 (T-hapten) was coupled to BSA. A clear-cut decrease in the inhibition rates of different beta-glycosides of N-acetyl-D-glucosamine, beta DGlcNAcOR, was observed, depending on the nature of the aglycon R(p-nitrophenyl greater than -(CH2)8COOCH3 greater than -(CH2)2NHCO(CH2)2COOCH3 greater than -CH3). Also, p-nitrophenyl-alpha-D-glucopyranoside was a much better inhibitor of invasion than the corresponding methyl glycoside, alpha DGlcOMe, which was not inhibitory. The properties of the aglycon spacer, used for the covalent attachment of the carbohydrate to the carrier protein, may thus be crucial for the outcome of the inhibition rate.