Fig. 4

Role of variant ATP2B4 genotype group in cytoadherence and var gene expression of parasitized RBCs. Donor RBCs were infected with a P. falciparum strain expressing var2CSA (FCR3-var2CSA). The number of infected RBC binding to CSA per mm2 was quantified for RBCs from individuals in homozygous (T/T) donors (n = 8), heterozygous (T/C) donors (n = 11) and wild type (C/C) donors (n = 8). Adhesion was measured and compared between the three haplotypes using one-way ANOVA, ns). B RNA was extracted from donor RBCs infected with P. falciparum strain FCR3-var2CSA. RT-PCR was conducted to detect four variants of var2CSA which are known to be expressed in this parasite line. Heat map showing the relative expression profile of the entire var gene repertoire (n = 63) excluding var2CSA of FCR3 strain. Parasites were grown in homozygous (T/T) donors (n = 8) and wild type (C/C) donors (n = 8) RBCs and RT-PCR performed following RNA extraction. No significant difference in the expression of any of the var genes tested between parasites grown in the homozygous (T/T) and wild type (C/C) donors infected RBCs