Nature Communications (May 2021)
Cryo-EM reveals the architecture of placental malaria VAR2CSA and provides molecular insight into chondroitin sulfate binding
- Kaituo Wang,
- Robert Dagil,
- Thomas Lavstsen,
- Sandeep K. Misra,
- Charlotte B. Spliid,
- Yong Wang,
- Tobias Gustavsson,
- Daniel R. Sandoval,
- Elena Ethel Vidal-Calvo,
- Swati Choudhary,
- Mette Ø Agerbaek,
- Kresten Lindorff-Larsen,
- Morten A. Nielsen,
- Thor G. Theander,
- Joshua S. Sharp,
- Thomas Mandel Clausen,
- Pontus Gourdon,
- Ali Salanti
Affiliations
- Kaituo Wang
- Department of Biomedical Sciences, University of Copenhagen
- Robert Dagil
- Centre for Medical Parasitology at Department for Immunology and Microbiology, Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, University of Copenhagen and Department of Infectious Disease, Copenhagen University Hospital
- Thomas Lavstsen
- Centre for Medical Parasitology at Department for Immunology and Microbiology, Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, University of Copenhagen and Department of Infectious Disease, Copenhagen University Hospital
- Sandeep K. Misra
- Department of BioMolecular Sciences, University of Mississippi
- Charlotte B. Spliid
- Centre for Medical Parasitology at Department for Immunology and Microbiology, Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, University of Copenhagen and Department of Infectious Disease, Copenhagen University Hospital
- Yong Wang
- Structural Biology and NMR Laboratory & Linderstrøm-Lang Centre for Protein Science,Department of Biology, University of Copenhagen
- Tobias Gustavsson
- Centre for Medical Parasitology at Department for Immunology and Microbiology, Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, University of Copenhagen and Department of Infectious Disease, Copenhagen University Hospital
- Daniel R. Sandoval
- Department of Cellular and Molecular Medicine, University of California, San Diego
- Elena Ethel Vidal-Calvo
- Centre for Medical Parasitology at Department for Immunology and Microbiology, Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, University of Copenhagen and Department of Infectious Disease, Copenhagen University Hospital
- Swati Choudhary
- Centre for Medical Parasitology at Department for Immunology and Microbiology, Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, University of Copenhagen and Department of Infectious Disease, Copenhagen University Hospital
- Mette Ø Agerbaek
- Centre for Medical Parasitology at Department for Immunology and Microbiology, Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, University of Copenhagen and Department of Infectious Disease, Copenhagen University Hospital
- Kresten Lindorff-Larsen
- Structural Biology and NMR Laboratory & Linderstrøm-Lang Centre for Protein Science,Department of Biology, University of Copenhagen
- Morten A. Nielsen
- Centre for Medical Parasitology at Department for Immunology and Microbiology, Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, University of Copenhagen and Department of Infectious Disease, Copenhagen University Hospital
- Thor G. Theander
- Centre for Medical Parasitology at Department for Immunology and Microbiology, Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, University of Copenhagen and Department of Infectious Disease, Copenhagen University Hospital
- Joshua S. Sharp
- Department of BioMolecular Sciences, University of Mississippi
- Thomas Mandel Clausen
- Department of Cellular and Molecular Medicine, University of California, San Diego
- Pontus Gourdon
- Department of Biomedical Sciences, University of Copenhagen
- Ali Salanti
- Centre for Medical Parasitology at Department for Immunology and Microbiology, Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, University of Copenhagen and Department of Infectious Disease, Copenhagen University Hospital
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-021-23254-1
- Journal volume & issue
-
Vol. 12,
no. 1
pp. 1 – 10
Abstract
In placental malaria, interactions between parasite protein VAR2CSA and human glycosaminoglycan chondroitin sulfate A (CS) sequesters infected red blood cells in the placenta. Here, the authors provide cryo-EM structures of VAR2CSA and placental CS, identifying molecular interactions that could guide design of placental malaria vaccines.
