The Journal of Experimental Medicine
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Published 6 June 2005. doi:10.1084/jem.20041392
Rockefeller University Press, 0022-1007 $8.00
JEM, Volume 201, Number 11, 1853-1863
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ARTICLE

 SURFIN is a polymorphic antigen expressed on Plasmodium falciparum merozoites and infected erythrocytes

Gerhard Winter1, Satoru Kawai2, Malin Haeggström1, Osamu Kaneko3, Anne von Euler1, Shin-ichiro Kawazu4, Daniel Palm5, Victor Fernandez5, and Mats Wahlgren1,5

1 Microbiology and Tumorbiology Center, Karolinska Institutet, SE-17177 Stockholm, Sweden
2 Department of Tropical Medicine and Parasitology, Dokkyo University School of Medicine, Tochigi 321-0293, Japan
3 Department of Molecular Parasitology, Ehime University School of Medicine, Ehime 791-0295, Japan
4 Research Institute, International Medical Center of Japan, Tokyo 162-8655, Japan
5 The Swedish Institute for Infectious Disease Control, SE-17182 Stockholm, Sweden

CORRESPONDENCE Mats Wahlgren: Mats.Wahlgren{at}mtc.ki.se

The surfaces of the infected erythrocyte (IE) and the merozoite, two developmental stages of malaria parasites, expose antigenic determinants to the host immune system. We report on surface-associated interspersed genes (surf genes), which encode a novel polymorphic protein family, SURFINs, present on both IEs and merozoites. A SURFIN expressed in 3D7 parasites, SURFIN4.2, was identified by mass spectrometric analysis of peptides cleaved off the surface of live IEs with trypsin. SURFINs are encoded by a family of 10 surf genes, including three predicted pseudogenes, located within or close to the subtelomeres of five of the chromosomes. SURFINs show structural and sequence similarities with exported surface-exposed proteins (PvSTP1, PkSICAvar, PvVIR, Pf332, and PfEMP1) of several Plasmodium species. SURFIN4.2 of a parasite other than 3D7 (FCR3S1.2) showed polymorphisms in the extracellular domain, suggesting sequence variability between genotypes. SURFIN4.2 not only was found cotransported with PfEMP1 and RIFIN to the IE surface, but also accumulated in the parasitophorous vacuole. In released merozoites, SURFIN4.2 was present in an amorphous cap at the parasite apex, where it may be involved in the invasion of erythrocytes. By exposing shared polymorphic antigens on IEs and merozoites, the parasite may coordinate the antigenic composition of these attachment surfaces during growth in the bloodstream.

Abbreviations used: aa, amino acids; a.i., after invasion; AMA, apical merozoite antigen; ATS, acidic terminal sequence; CRD, cysteine-rich domain; IE, infected erythrocyte; IFA, immunofluorescence assay; LMV, large multimeric vesicle; MAM, merozoite-associated material; ORF, open reading frame; Pexel, P. falciparum export element; PI, propidium iodide; PM, plasma membrane; PV, parasitophorous vacuole; SSV, single small vesicle; surf gene, surface-associated interspersed gene; TM, transmembrane; WRD, tryptophan-rich domain.

G. Winter and S. Kawai contributed equally to this work.


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