Abstract
Malaria transmission begins when an infected mosquito delivers Plasmodium sporozoites into the skin. The sporozoite subsequently enters the circulation and infects the liver by preferentially traversing Kupffer cells, a macrophage-like component of the liver sinusoidal lining. By screening a phage display library, we previously identified a peptide designated P39 that binds to CD68 on the surface of Kupffer cells and blocks sporozoite traversal. In this study, we show that the P39 peptide is a structural mimic of glyceraldehyde 3-phosphate dehydrogenase (GAPDH) on the sporozoite surface and that GAPDH directly interacts with CD68 on the Kupffer cell surface. Importantly, an anti-P39 antibody significantly inhibits sporozoite liver invasion without cross-reacting with mammalian GAPDH. Therefore, Plasmodium-specific GAPDH epitopes may provide novel antigens for the development of a prehepatic vaccine.