Immune sera recognize on erythrocytes Plasmodium falciparum antigen composed of repeated amino acid sequences

Protective immune responses against the asexual stages of the human malaria parasite, Plasmodium falciparum, are most probably directed against exposed antigenic determinants on the surface of the free merozoite or the infected red blood cell, and therefore antigens in these locations are candidates for testing as components of a defined molecular vaccine. To facilitate the search for such antigens, we recently developed a method for the expression of P. falciparum proteins in Escherichia coli as fused polypeptides. Many clones producing antigens were detected by screening with immune human sera. We show here that antibodies against the fused polypeptide expressed by one such clone react with a P. falciparum protein that is synthesized late in schizogony and is later present on the surface of the ring-infected erythrocyte. The protein is composed of repeating subunits of 8, 4 and 3 amino acids and is present in all isolates of P. falciparum examined.     

Acknowledgment of priority

Acknowledgment of priority     

The glycoprotein encoded by the X-linked chronic granulomatous disease locus is a component of the neutrophil cytochrome b complex

The bacteriocidal capacity of phagocytic cells is impaired in X-linked chronic granulomatous disease (X-CGD), a disorder characterized by the absence of functional plasma-membrane-associated NADPH oxidase. The components of this oxidase system, their correspondence with specific genetic loci, and the primary protein defect in X-CGD remain incompletely defined. We recently reported cloning of the putative X-CGD gene on the basis of DNA linkage. To identify the predicted protein in vivo, antibodies were raised to a synthetic peptide derived from the complementary DNA sequence and to a fusion protein produced in Escherichia coli. In Western blots antisera detect a neutrophil protein of relative molecular mass in 90,000 (90K) that is absent in X-CGD patients. Antisera also react with the larger component of cytochrome b recently purified from neutrophil plasma membranes as a complex of glycosylated 90K and non-glycosylated 22K polypeptides. Based on our identification of the X-CGD protein in vivo, we propose that one of its critical roles is to interact with the 22K species to form a functional cytochrome b complex.     

Insulin-regulatable tissues express a unique insulin-sensitive glucose transport protein

At least three different glucose transport systems exist in mammalian cells. These are: (1) the constitutively active, facilitative carrier characteristic of human erythrocytes, Hep G2 (ref. 2) cells and rat brain; (2) the Na-dependent active transporter of kidney and small intestine; and (3) the facilitative carrier of rat liver (B. Thorens and H. F. Lodish, personal communication). A fourth possible glucose transport system is the insulin-dependent carrier that may be specific to muscle and adipose tissue. This transporter resides primarily in an intracellular compartment in resting cells from where it translocates to the cell surface upon cellular insulin exposure. This raises the question of whether hormonal regulation of glucose transport is conferred by virtue of a tissue-specific signalling mechanism or a tissue-specific glucose transporter. Here we present data supporting the latter concept based upon a monoclonal antibody against the fat cell glucose transporter that identifies a unique, insulin-regulatable glucose transport protein in muscle and adipose tissue.