Common strategies to prevent and modulate experimental cerebral malaria in mouse strains with different susceptibilities.

Cerebral malaria (CM) is a severe complication of Plasmodium falciparum infection, predominantly experienced by children and nonimmune adults, which results in significant mortality and long-term sequelae. Previous studies have reported distinct susceptibility gene loci in CBA/CaH (CBA) and C57BL/6 (B6) mice with experimental CM (ECM) caused by infection with Plasmodium berghei ANKA. Here we present an analysis of genome-wide expression profiles in brain tissue taken from B6 and CBA mice with ECM and report significant heterogeneity between the two mouse strains.

Cutting edge: conventional dendritic cells are the critical APC required for the induction of experimental cerebral malaria.

Cerebral malaria (CM) is a serious complication of Plasmodium falciparum infection, causing significant morbidity and mortality among young children and nonimmune adults in the developing world. Although previous work on experimental CM has identified T cells as key mediators of pathology, the APCs and subsets therein required to initiate immunopathology remain unknown. In this study, we show that conventional dendritic cells but not plasmacytoid dendritic cells are required for the induction of malaria parasite-specific CD4+ T cell responses and subsequent experimental CM.