Purification of Pf155/RESA antigen from supernatants of in vitro Plasmodium falciparum cultures by continuous elution electrophoresis

Abstract

The malaria parasite Plasmodium falciparum synthesizes a protein, Pf155/RESA, which associates with the membrane of newly invaded erythrocytes. Using spent supernatants from P. falciparum growing in culture as a source of soluble Pf155/RESA, we have developed a purification technique based on the concentration of these supernatants, followed by gel filtration and continuous elution electrophoresis. SDS-PAGE electrophoresis and immunoblots were used to establish the quality of the purification.