Pamela S. Patterson

Bio: Pamela S. Patterson is an academic researcher from Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The author has contributed to research in topics: Midgut & Malaria. The author has an hindex of 5, co-authored 7 publications receiving 232 citations.

Anti-mosquito midgut antibodies block development of plasmodium falciparum and plasmodium vivax in multiple species of anopheles mosquitoes and reduce vector fecundity and survivorship

Abstract: The mosquito midgut plays a central role in the sporogonic development of malaria parasites. We have found that polyclonal sera, produced against mosquito midguts, blocked the passage of Plasmodium falciparum ookinetes across the midgut, leading to a significant reduction of infections in mosquitoes. Anti-midgut mAbs were produced that display broad-spectrum activity, blocking parasite development of both P. falciparum and Plasmodium vivax parasites in five different species of mosquitoes. In addition to their parasite transmission-blocking activity, these mAbs also reduced mosquito survivorship and fecundity. These results reveal that mosquito midgut-based antibodies have the potential to reduce malaria transmission in a synergistic manner by lowering both vector competence, through transmission-blocking effects on parasite development, and vector abundance, by decreasing mosquito survivorship and egg laying capacity. Because the intervention can block transmission of different malaria parasite species in various species of mosquitoes, vaccines against such midgut receptors may block malaria transmission worldwide.

Sulfated polyanions inhibit invasion of erythrocytes by plasmodial merozoites and cytoadherence of endothelial cells to parasitized erythrocytes.

Abstract: Sulfated proteoglycans have been shown to be involved in the binding of sporozoites of malaria parasites to hepatocytes. In this study, we have evaluated the effect of sulfated glycosaminoglycans on the invasion of erythrocytes by Plasmodium falciparum merozoites and cytoadherence of parasitized erythrocytes (PRBC) to endothelial cells. Invasion of erythrocytes by HB3EC-6 (an HB3 line selected for high binding to endothelial cells) was inhibited by dextran sulfate 500K, dextran sulfate 5K, sulfatides, fucoidan, and heparin but not by chondroitin sulfate A. With the exception of sulfatides, the invasion-inhibitory effect was not mediated by killing of parasites. Cytoadherence of HB3EC-6 to human microvascular endothelial cells (HMEC-1) and inhibited by these sulfated glycoconjugates. The highly sulfated dextran sulfate 500K had the highest inhibitory effect on both invasion and cytoadherence, whereas the positively charged protamine sulfate promoted cytoadherence. Because preincubation of PRBC with sulfated glycosaminoglycans and treatment of target cells with heparinase had no significant inhibition on cytoadherence, it is unlikely that sulfated glycoconjugates are used directly by endothelial cells as cytoadhesion receptors. In an vivo experiment, we found that the administration of dextran sulfate 500K to CBA/Ca mice infected with Plasmodium berghei ANKA reduced parasitemia and delayed the death associated with anemia. These observations suggest that sulfated polyanions inhibit the invasion of erythrocytes by merozoites and cytoadherence of PRBC to endothelial cells by increasing negative repulsive charge and sterically interfering with the ligand-receptor interaction after binding to target cells.

Role of eicosanoids in the pathogenesis of murine cerebral malaria.

Abstract: Because microvascular damage is a common feature of cerebral malaria, we have examined the role eicosanoid metabolites (prostaglandins and leukotrienes) in experimental cerebral malaria. Eighty ICR mice were infected with Plasmodium berghei ANKA, with 40 uninfected mice as controls. Half of the infected mice were treated on days 4 and 5 with aspirin, a prostaglandin synthesis inhibitor. Infected mice started to die of cerebral malaria on day 6, and by day 17, all infected mice died. In contrast, all infected mice treated with aspirin died by day 12. Infected mice had increased phospholipase A2 mRNA expression in the spleen and cyclooxygenase 1 (COX1) and COX2 expression in the brain. At the peak of cerebral malaria, infected mice had higher serum leukotriene B4 levels than control mice, and aspirin-treated infected mice had higher serum leukotriene B4 levels than untreated infected mice. These results suggest that prostaglandins are protective whereas leukotrienes are detrimental in cerebral malaria.

Influence of adjuvants on murine immune responses against the C‐terminal 19 kDa fragment of Plasmodium vivax merozoite surface protein‐1 (MSP‐1)

Abstract: The immunogenicity of a yeast-expressed 19 kDa fragment of P vivax MSP-1 in the presence of different adjuvant formulations was evaluated. ICR mice were immunized with the 19 kDa antigen, using Freund's, alum, and block copolymer P1005 in water-in-oil (W/O) or oil-in-water (O/W) emulsions with or without detoxified lipopolysaccharide (RaLPS) as adjuvants. Five weeks following immunization with the antigen, mice were boosted with asexual blood-stage antigens. Three weeks after the last immunization with the 19 kDa antigen, mice from the Freund's group and most groups that received P1005 as adjuvant had higher total IgG titres than those that received alum as adjuvant or antigen alone. Antibody responses after the antigen immunization were predominantly of the IgG1 isotype, but mice in the Freund's and P1005 (W/O or O/W emulsion with or without RaLPS) groups also had high titres of IgG2a and IgG2b. Antibody titres against merozoites increased in all groups after the parasite antigen boost. IgG2a levels in the group that received antigen in P1005 plus RaLPS in the W/O emulsion were higher than those receiving Freund's, alum or the other copolymer adjuvants. The high IgG2a titres in this group were associated with reduced IL-10 production.

Pathogenesis of Cerebral Malaria: Recent Experimental Data and Possible Applications for Humans

Abstract: Malaria still is a major public health problem, partly because the pathogenesis of its major complication, cerebral malaria, remains incompletely understood. Experimental models represent useful tools to better understand the mechanisms of this syndrome. Here, data generated by several models are reviewed both in vivo and in vitro; we propose that some pathogenic mechanisms, drawn from data obtained from experiments in a mouse model, may be instrumental in humans. In particular, tumor necrosis factor (TNF) receptor 2 is involved in this syndrome, implying that the transmembrane form of TNF may be more important than the soluble form of the cytokine. It has also been shown that in addition to differences in immune responsiveness between genetically resistant and susceptible mice, there are marked differences at the level of the target cell of the lesion, namely, the brain endothelial cell. In murine cerebral malaria, a paradoxical role of platelets has been proposed. Indeed, platelets appear to be pathogenic rather than protective in inflammatory conditions because they can potentiate the deleterious effects of TNF. More recently, it has been shown that interactions among platelets, leukocytes, and endothelial cells have phenotypic and functional consequences for the endothelial cells. A better understanding of these complex interactions leading to vascular injury will help improve the outcome of cerebral malaria.