Duffy antigen is expressed during erythropoiesis in Duffy-negative individuals.

The erythrocyte silent Duffy blood group phenotype in Africans is thought to confer resistance to Plasmodium vivax blood-stage infection. However, recent studies report P. vivax infections across Africa in Fy-negative individuals.

Human monoclonal antibodies inhibit invasion of transgenic Plasmodium knowlesi expressing Plasmodium vivax Duffy binding protein.

Background: Plasmodium vivax has been more resistant to various control measures than Plasmodium falciparum malaria because of its greater transmissibility and ability to produce latent parasite forms. Therefore, developing P. vivax vaccines and therapeutic monoclonal antibodies (humAbs) remains a high priority.

Naturally-acquired and Vaccine-induced Human Monoclonal Antibodies to Duffy Binding Protein Inhibit Invasion of (PvDBPOR) Transgenic Parasites.

The Duffy antigen receptor for chemokines (DARC) expressed on erythrocytes is central to (Pv) invasion of reticulocytes. Pv expresses a Duffy binding protein (PvDBP) on merozoites, a DARC ligand, and their protein-protein interaction is central to vivax blood stage malaria. Here we compared the functional activity of humAbs derived from naturally exposed and vaccinated individuals for the first time using easily cultured (Pk) that had been genetically modified to replace its endogenous PkDBP orthologue with PvDBP to create a transgenic parasite, PkPvDBPOR.

Microfluidic assessment of red blood cell mediated microvascular occlusion.

Abnormal red blood cell (RBC) deformability contributes to hemolysis, thrombophilia, inflammation, and microvascular occlusion in various circulatory diseases. A quantitative and objective assessment of microvascular occlusion mediated by RBCs with abnormal deformability would provide valuable insights into disease pathogenesis and therapeutic strategies. To that end, we present a new functional microfluidic assay, OcclusionChip, which mimics two key architectural features of the capillary bed in the circulatory system.

Trombones Elicit Bitter More Strongly Than Do Clarinets: a Partial Replication of Three Studies of Crisinel and Spence.

We present a partial replication of the crossmodal pitch/taste correspondence of Crisinel and Spence. Male college students (n=46) were asked to judge the pitch (F1-C4 on trombone; F3-C6 on clarinet) that best corresponded with each of four tastants (unsweetened coffee, unsweetened chocolate, salt, and sugar). With trombone there was a significant effect of tastant [F(3,135)=7.