Università della Svizzera italiana

A LAIR-1 insertion creates broadly reactive antibodies against malaria variant antigens

Tan, Joshua ; Pieper, Kathrin ; Piccoli, Luca ; Abdi, Abdirahman ; Tully, Claire Maria ; Foglierini Perez, Mathilde ; Geiger, Roger ; Jarrossay, David ; Maina Ndungu, Francis ; Wambua, Juliana ; Bejon, Philip ; Silacci Fregni, Chiara : Institute for Research in Biomedicine (IRB), Faculty of Biomedical Sciences, Università della Svizzera italiana, Switzerland ; Fernandez-Rodriguez, Blanca ; Barbieri, Sonia ; Bianchi, Siro ; Marsh, Kevin ; Thathy, Vandana ; Corti, Davide ; Sallusto, Federica ; Bull, Peter ; Lanzavecchia, Antonio

In: Nature, 2016, vol. 529, p. 25 p

Plasmodium falciparum antigens expressed on the surface of infected erythrocytes are important targets of naturally acquired immunity against malaria, but their high number and variability provide the pathogen with a powerful means of escape from host antibodies1,2,3,4. Although broadly reactive antibodies against these antigens could be useful as therapeutics and in vaccine design, their...