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Method Article
The overall goal of this protocol is to provide instruction on how to measure the capacity of antibodies present in sera or plasma of individuals, naturally exposed to Plasmodium falciparum infection, to opsonize and induce phagocytosis of the parasite-infected erythrocytes (IEs).
The protocol describes how to set up and run a flow cytometry-based phagocytosis assay of Plasmodium falciparum-infected erythrocytes (IEs) opsonized by naturally acquired IgG antibodies specific for VAR2CSA. VAR2CSA is the parasite antigen that mediates the selective sequestration of IEs in the placenta that can cause a severe form of malaria in pregnant women, called placental malaria (PM). Protection from PM is mediated by VAR2CSA-specific antibodies that are believed to function by inhibiting placental sequestration and/or by opsonizing IEs for phagocytosis. The assay employs late-stage-synchronized IEs that have been selected in vitro to express VAR2CSA, plasma/serum-antibodies from women with naturally acquired PM-specific immunity, and the phagocytic cell line THP-1. However, the protocol can easily be modified to assay the functionality of antibodies to any parasite antigen present on the IE surface, whether induced by natural exposure or by vaccination. The assay offers simple and high-throughput evaluation, with good reproducibility, of an important functional aspect of antibody-mediated immunity in malaria. It is, therefore, useful when evaluating clinical immunity to P. falciparum malaria, a major cause of morbidity and mortality in the tropics, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa.
Malaria is a vector-borne disease caused in humans upon infection with five different species of the genus Plasmodium. The most prevalent species is P. falciparum, which is also responsible for the most morbidity and mortality1. Malaria clinical presentation varies from asymptomatic or benign infections to complicated/severe disease, the latter occurring mostly in children under the age of five years. Exposure to P. falciparum does not induce sterile immunity, but individuals living in endemic areas slowly develop immunity against the clinical disease. Protection is age/exposure dependent and immunity is normally acquired during the first 5-10 years of life2. Adult women are an important exception, as severe malaria can occur during pregnancy in a clinical presentation known as placental malaria (PM). PM is an important cause of abortion, stillbirth, premature delivery, low birth weight, fetal death, and maternal anemia. Resistance to PM develops over successive pregnancies3. Protection from PM is associated with the acquisition of antibodies against VAR2CSA-type PfEMP14,5, an infected erythrocyte (IE) surface antigen that binds to chondroitin sulphate A (CSA) enabling IE sequestration in the placenta. Antibodies mediate protection performing various functional activities (reviewed in6,7) including opsonization of IEs to induce phagocytosis. Early in vitro studies showed that antibodies can limit P. falciparum growth in the presence of monocytes via phagocytosis8,9. More recent studies have shown that higher levels of phagocytosis-inducing antibodies are associated with better pregnancy outcomes (in the context of HIV co-infection)10,11, indicating the relevance of this effector function in the naturally acquired immune response.
Here we present a protocol to measure this function of antibodies present in human plasma/serum, using in vitro cultured IEs expressing VAR2CSA together with the monocyte line THP-1. The assay has been previously used11,12,13,14,15,16,17,18 and is considered an improved and easier approach compared to earlier microscope-based protocols8, since it allows testing of a larger number of antibody samples in a single run using smaller volumes of antibody and avoiding tedious and biased microscopy counting. Even though the assay has been used by multiple laboratories and its execution is simple enough, it requires careful planning and preparation, therefore, a detailed protocol would allow its application by laboratories and researchers lacking previous experience. We use, as an example, late-stage-synchronized IEs expressing VAR2CSA opsonized with antibodies present in serum collected from women with naturally acquired PM-specific immunity. However, the protocol can easily be modified to assay the functionality of antibodies to any parasite antigen present on the IE surface, whether induced by natural exposure or by vaccination.
The human serum samples used for the results presented here were collected in a separate study19. Collection was approved by the Institutional Review Board of Noguchi Memorial Institute for Medical Research, University of Ghana (study 038/10-11), and by the Regional Research Ethics Committees, Capital Region of Denmark (protocol H-4-2013-083).
1. Parasite culture
NOTE: Follow the local regulations for human pathogens handling.
2. THP-1 cells
NOTE: The THP-1 cell line is used in this assay. This monocyte cell line is derived from a patient with monocytic leukemia28 and can be purchased from ATCC. Maintain the cell line according to the provider’s instructions in THP-1 culture medium (see Table of Materials).
3. Phagocytosis assay (Figure S1)
Here we present in detail a protocol that has previously been described31 and used11,12,13,14,15,16,17,18 to measure the capacity of antibodies targeting the surface of P. falciparum IEs to induce opsonization and phagocytos...
The protocol presented here has been previously described and used12,15,17,31 to measure the capacity of antibodies targeting the surface of P. falciparum IEs to induce opsonization and phagocytosis by THP-1 cells. The results presented here focus on naturally acquired VAR2CSA-specific antibodies in the plasma/serum of women living in a P. falciparum endemic region. VAR2CSA is...
The authors have nothing to disclose.
Maiken Visti is thanked for excellent technical assistance. This work was partly funded by a grant (MAVARECA II; 17-02-KU) from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Denmark and administered by Danida Fellowship Centre. The funder had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.
Name | Company | Catalog Number | Comments |
96 well cell culture plates, round bottom with lid | Corning | 3799 | Any similar plate can be used, make sure it is compatible with the flow cytometer instrument you intend to use |
AlbuMAX-II | Gibco | 11021-037 | |
AlbuMAX-II (5%) | - | - | 5% AlbuMAX-II (Gibco, 11021-037), 0.2g/L hypoxanthine (Sigma, H9377) in RPMI1640 (Sigma, R5886) |
Anti-Red Blood Cells antibody | Abcam | ab34858 | Prepare 2μl aliquots and freeze a -20°C. Use one aliquot per experiment. |
DPBS | Sigma | P8622 | |
Dynabeads Protein G | Invitrogen | 10003D | |
Ethidium bromide solution | Sigma | E1510 | Prepare a stock solution at 0.1mg/mL in RPMI1640 (R5886). Store protected from light |
FC500 flow cytometer | Beckman Coulter | Any flow cytometer supporting 96 well plate format and having the appropriate lasers/filters to measure EtBr fluorescence can be used. | |
Fetal Bovine Serum (FBS) | Gibco | 10099-141 | Heat inactivate before use. |
FITC mouse anti-human CD16 | BD Biosciences | 555406 or 556618 | |
FITC mouse anti-human CD32 | BD Biosciences | 552883 | |
FITC mouse anti-human CD64 | BD Biosciences | 555527 | |
FlowLogic software | Inivai technologies | Any flow cytometry analysis can be used, for example FlowJo or Winlist | |
Gentamicin (10mg/mL) | Sigma | G1272 | |
Hypoxanthine | Sigma | H9377 | |
L-glutamine (200mM) | Sigma | G7513 | |
Lysing solution | - | - | 15mM NH4Cl, 10mM NaHCO3, 1mM EDTA |
MACS CS-column and accesories | Miltenyi Biotec | 130-041-305 | |
Parasite culture medium | - | - | 2mM L-glutamine (Sigma, G7513), 50µg/mL Gentamicin (Sigma, G1272), 0.5% AlbuMAX-II (AlbuMAX-II 5%) in RPMI1640 (Sigma, R5886) |
Penicillin/Streptomycin (10000U and 10mg/mL) | Sigma | P0781 | |
RPMI-1640 medium | Sigma | R5886 | |
THP-1 culture medium | - | - | 10%FBS (Gibco, 10099-141), 2mM L-glutamine (Sigma, G7513), 100U/mL Penicillin, 0.1mg/mL Streptomycin (Sigma, P0781) in RPMI1640 (Sigma, R5886) |
Vario MACS magnet | Miltenyi Biotec |
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