Monoclonal antibodies blocking malaria binding to host EPCR

Two monoclonal antibodies that target the conserved region of the CIDRα1 domain on the Plasmodium falciparum protein PfEMP1 that binds the human endothelial protein EPCR could help treat malaria by preventing adherence of infected erythrocytes to micro blood vessels, which causes severe symptoms including organ failure.

A screen of B cells isolated from three adults exposed to malaria yielded seven clones whose antibodies bound an isolated CIDRα1 domain, and inhibited its interaction with EPCR. Two of these antibodies, which bound overlapping regions, were able to inhibit EPCR binding for five out of six domain subclasses of CIDRα1, and these were subsequently confirmed to bind full-length PfEMP1 and inhibit its EPCR interaction...