I. Crandall et al., SYNTHETIC PEPTIDES BASED ON MOTIFS PRESENT IN HUMAN BAND-3 PROTEIN INHIBIT CYTOADHERENCE SEQUESTRATION OF THE MALARIA PARASITE PLASMODIUM-FALCIPARUM, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United Statesof America, 90(10), 1993, pp. 4703-4707
Synthetic peptides patterned on the amino acid sequences found in two
exofacial regions of band 3 protein (residues 824-829 of loop 7 and re
sidues 547-553 of loop 3) blocked, in a dose-dependent fashion, the in
vitro adherence of Plasmodium falciparum-infected erythrocytes to C32
amelanotic melanoma cells. Intravenous infusion of these synthetic pe
ptides into Aotus and Saimiri monkeys infected with sequestering isola
tes of P. falciparum resulted in the appearance of mature forms of the
parasite in the peripheral circulation. The finding that the peptides
were effective as adhesion blockers in the micromolar range suggests
that cerebral malaria could be managed through antiadhesion therapy.