Antibodies to Cryptic Epitopes in Distant Homologues Underpin a Mechanism of Heterologous Immunity between<i>Plasmodium vivax</i>PvDBP and<i>Plasmodium falciparum</i>VAR2CSA

Abstract

In this work, we describe a molecular mechanism of heterologous immunity between two distant species of Plasmodium . Our results suggest a mechanism that subverts the classic parasite strategy of presenting highly polymorphic epitopes in surface antigens to evade immunity to that parasite. This alternative immune pathway can be exploited to protect pregnant women from falciparum placental malaria by designing vaccines to cryptic epitopes that elicit broadly inhibitory antibodies against variant parasite strains.