Effect of the Recombinant Plasmodium vivax Surface-Related Antigen on Human Splenic Fibroblasts

It has been known that Plasmodium vivax-infected erythrocytes can enter the spleen and avoid spleen clearance to establish chronic infections. A hypothesis holds that P. vivax-infected erythrocytes can selectively cytoadhere to human splenic fibroblasts (HSF), further causing spleen structural remodeling and resulting in immune evasion from spleen clearance. However, direct evidence has not yet been reported to date. In present work, we found a new exported protein, P. vivax surface-related antigen (PvSRA), on the infected erythrocyte membrane. Considering the essential role of the exported protein in the immune evasion of P.falciparum, RNA sequencing technology was introduced first in this work to predict the potential effect of PvSRA on HSF. This work provides a new research idea and method for the study of the mechanism of malaria.