Epitope mirroring between the malaria surface proteins PfGARP and PIESP2 identifies a knob-associated complex in infected erythrocytes
Christopher J Schwake, Rachel M Krueger, Feier Chen, Dalia Karim, Madeline J Mueller, Sanjay A Desai, Josh R Beck, Toshihiko Hanada, Athar H Chishti · 2026
Read Epitope mirroring between the malaria surface proteins PfGARP and PIESP2 identifies a knob-associated complex in infected erythrocytes by Christopher J Schwake, Rachel M Krueger, Feier Chen, Dalia Karim, Madeline J Mueller, Sanjay A Desai, Josh R Beck, Toshihiko Hanada, Athar H Chishti (2026) in the Tower of Babel, a free online library of public-domain works preserved in clean, searchable text. No sign-up. The full text is served as a plain-text file at a predictable URL, where text is present: https://antarctic-labs.com/tower-of-babel/PMC13400357.txt.
Description
Christopher J Schwake and co-authors report, in 2026, a shared antibody target between two malaria parasite proteins on infected red blood cells. Malaria from Plasmodium falciparum kills many children in sub-Saharan Africa. Infected cells stick to blood vessel walls using knob-like bumps, which can cause severe brain and pregnancy disease.
The team made an antibody, GM7, against one knob protein, PfGARP. Using protein scans and parasite lines missing PfGARP, they found the antibody also fits a second protein, PIESP2. Part of PIESP2 sits on the knob surface. The antibody also detected immune responses to PIESP2 in people from a region where malaria is common, opening a new angle on how knobs help infected cells stick.
Catalog record
| CREATOR | Christopher J Schwake, Rachel M Krueger, Feier Chen, Dalia Karim, Madeline J Mueller, Sanjay A Desai, Josh R Beck, Toshihiko Hanada, Athar H Chishti |
|---|---|
| YEAR | 2026 |
| COLLECTION | PAPERS |
| FORMAT | TXT |
| FILE SIZE | 104239 |
| LICENSE | https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0 |
| RIGHTS | CC BY |
| SOURCE | Europe PMC |