Cell-adhesive motif in region II of malarial circumsporozoite protein.

The segment of the malarial circumsporozoite (CS) protein designated Region II is highly conserved among different malarial species. A similar sequence is also present in several other proteins, including thrombospondin, properdin, and a blood-stage antigen of Plasmodium falciparum. By means of peptides synthesized from sequences of the Plasmodium vivax CS protein in the vicinity of Region II, it was found that two overlapping 18- to 20-amino acid peptides promoted the adhesion of a variety of human hematopoietic cell lines. The amino acid sequence valine-threonine-cysteineglycine (VTCG), contained within this common motif, was shown to be the critical sequence for the observed cell-adhesive properties.