Stage-specific proteins of Plasmodium berghei-infected red blood cells detected by antibodies of immune mouse serum.

The asynchronously developing malaria parasite Plasmodium berghei was synchronized using in vitro cultivation techniques (Mons et al. 1985). After the infection of naive mice, preparations of parasitized erythrocytes with a high level of synchronism could be obtained. Immunofluorescence and immunoblotting techniques using serum from immunized mice were applied to determine stage-specific immunogenic molecules in the parasitized erythrocyte preparations. These techniques allowed the detection of not only parasite-derived but also altered-self molecules. Membrane fluorescence of infected erythrocytes was detected only in preparations containing late trophozoites and schizonts. The appearance of this fluorescence pattern coincided with the presence of immunogenic polypeptides of mol. wt. greater than 200 kD, 86 kD, and 56 kD especially, among some other polypeptides. Preliminary experiments using lactoperoxidase-catalyzed radioiodination suggested that the greater than 200 kD and 56 kD molecules were present at the erythrocyte surface. One molecule with mol. wt. 153 kD was associated with the presence of ring-infected erythrocytes. However, membrane fluorescence of ring-stage-infected erythrocytes was not found. Noninfected erythrocytes sometimes showed membrane fluorescence.