no more than 250 words How do polymorphisms in the Duffy gen

(no more than 250 words)

How do polymorphisms in the Duffy gene affect susceptibility to Plasmodium vivax malaria? If interested, you can find more information on Duffy on the NCBI gene database. Relationship of FY genotype on binding to PvDBP. (A) N-terminal binding domain (black residues) of PvDBP to Fy. Fy6 is a mAb and the corresponding epitope. Fy^a rightarrow Fy^b is the only polymorphism in the N-terminal region. Red highlights indicate negatively charged amino acids; the overall pl is 3.4 for the N- terminal region. In contrast, the binding domain of PvDBPII [consisting of 330 aa (32)] has a pl of 9.6. Flow cytometry assessment of recombinant PvDBPII binding levels to erythrocytes from people differing by Duffy genotype. Level of Duffy expression using mAb Fy6. Relative binding of PvDBPII expressing COS-cells to erythrocytes of FY*A/FY*A (n = 12) vs. FY *B/FY* B (n = 12, P

Solution

Duffy antigen/chemokine receptor (DARC) is also called Fy glycoprotein (FY) or CD234 (Cluster of Differentiation 234). This protein is encoded by the DARC gene in humans. This Duffy antigen is present on the surface of RBC.The duffy protein is a glycosylated membrane protein and a non-specific receptor for several chemokines. This duffy protein is alos a receptor for human malarial parasites Plasmodium vivax. Invasion of erythrocytes by P.vivax is dependent on cell surface receptor, the duffy antigen Fy.  Fy has two immunological distinct alleles. So mutation in this allele might lead to loss of receptor site to which P.Vivax might bind for invasion. Thereby reducing the suseptablity to P.Vivax infection