Isolation and characterization of the 80,000 dalton Plasmodium falciparum merozoite surface antigen.

The 80,000 dalton merozoite surface protein, derived from the 185,000-195,000 dalton schizont precursor, was isolated from detergent extracts of naturally-released merozoites using chromatographic procedures. A rabbit antiserum raised against this antigen was used for characterizing the 80,000 dalton fragment. The antiserum did not inhibit merozoite invasion or parasite growth in vitro, suggesting that this merozoite surface antigen is not directly involved in the invasion process of the merozoite into the host erythrocyte.