Antigenic variation and cytoadhesion in Babesia bovis and Plasmodium falciparum: different logics achieve the same goal

Label-free detection of Babesia bovis infected red blood cells using impedance spectroscopy on a microfabricated flow cytometer

“…Additionally, the protozoan parasite Plasmodium falciparum has been shown to significantly alter the dielectric properties of human red blood cells, and these properties were used for enrichment by free-flow-fractionation (Gascoyne et al, 2004). As B. bovis and P. falciparum life cycles are very similar (Allred and Al-Khedery, 2004;Cooke et al, 2005) changes in the dielectric properties of B. bovis infected cells should be comparable to those in P. falciparum infected cells.…”

Shared features in the pathobiology of babesiosis and malaria

“…might persist by evading the host immune response through parasite-directed alterations in the erythrocyte membrane [13,14]. Variant antigens expressed by B. bovis (variant erythrocyte surface antigen1 or VESA1) and P. falciparum (P. falciparum erythrocyte membrane protein1 or PfEMP1) were shown to be encoded by the multigene families ves 1a and var, respectively [15][16][17][18]. The increased genetic variation of the B. bovis ves 1a gene family compared with the P. falciparum var gene family might result in a greater number of B. bovis strains capable of evading the host immune system [16].…”

“…Variant antigens expressed by B. bovis (variant erythrocyte surface antigen1 or VESA1) and P. falciparum (P. falciparum erythrocyte membrane protein1 or PfEMP1) were shown to be encoded by the multigene families ves 1a and var, respectively [15][16][17][18]. The increased genetic variation of the B. bovis ves 1a gene family compared with the P. falciparum var gene family might result in a greater number of B. bovis strains capable of evading the host immune system [16]. The antigenically variant proteins also have been shown to be involved in cytoadhesion of B. bovis-and P. falciparum-infected erythrocytes to vascular endothelium, although the data are less definitive for VESA than for PfEMP1 (Figure 1).…”

“…Although a similar syndrome in human babesiosis is poorly described, cerebral pathology as a result of B. bovis infection is a well-recognized complication in cattle and has been used as an animal model of cerebral malaria [16,48,49].…”

Attenuated vaccines for tropical theileriosis, babesiosis and heartwater: the continuing necessity

“…The annotation of the B. bovis genome sequence should enable effective antigens to be identified. A protective vaccine might need to include multiple antigens [39] and its formulation would require a better understanding of antigenic diversity, mechanisms used by Babesia to evade host immunity and the heterogeneity of the bovine major histocompatibility complex class II molecules [40,[42][43][44].…”