The frequently fatal outcome of cerebral malaria has been linked to the adhesion and accumulation in the cerebral microvasculature of infected erythrocytes (IEs), which express a particular type of Plasmodium falciparum erythrocyte membrane protein 1 (PfEMP1). This type, found in the A and B/A subsets of PfEMP1, contains a particular structural motif (DBLβmotif) and has dual affinity for the host vascular receptors ICAM-1 and EPCR. Here, we report the functional characterization of a mouse monoclonal antibody, mAb02, raised against eight different DBLβmotif domains. The antibody selectively recognizes DBLβmotif-positive PfEMP1 proteins and inhibits their binding to ICAM-1. It also recognizes IEs expressing DBLβmotif-positive PfEMP1 proteins on their surface and inhibits their adhesion to ICAM-1. The mAb02 epitope is located in an unfolded linker region of the ICAM-1-binding site of DBLβmotif and includes residues directly involved in the interaction between DBLβmotif and ICAM-1, as well as residues that are important for the positioning of the interacting residues. Our study shows that mAb02 targets a broadly conserved epitope that is found in PfEMP1 proteins binding to ICAM-1 and EPCR and implicated in the pathogenesis of cerebral malaria (CM). This suggests the potential of mAb02 in the development of monoclonal antibody-based intervention against CM and for identification of IEs with capacity to causing CM.
© 2025. The Author(s).