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B cells

Francis Ndungu

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Email: 
fndunguatkilifi [dot] kemri-wellcome [dot] org
Group: 
Molecular Parasitology and Immunology

Immunity to malaria is slow to develop, is non-sterilising and wanes rapidly when immune adults migrate to non-endemic regions, suggesting that specific problems exist in the establishment and main

Eunice W Nduati

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Email: 
enduatiatkilifi [dot] kemri-wellcome [dot] org
Group: 
Molecular Parasitology and Immunology

My initial work involved the search for potential inhibitors of the Plasmodium folate pathway and monitoring of drug resistance development to anti-folate anti-malarial drugs.

The human B cell response to malaria

Full Title: 
The human B cell response to malaria: are malaria-specific memory B cells in young children exposed to endemic malaria dysfunctional?

No description available.

Britta C Urban

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Email: 
burbanatkilifi [dot] kemri-wellcome [dot] org
Group: 
Molecular Parasitology and Immunology

Britta Urban obtained a PhD at the Bernhard-Nocht Institute for Tropical Medicine in Hamburg, Germany in 1996, investigating complement resistance of Entamoeba histolytica.

Phenotype and function of B cells in children infected with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)

Principal Investigator(s): 
Britta C Urban
Principal Investigator(s): 
Eunice Wambui Nduati

Hardly anything is known about the development of antigen-specific memory B cell responses to pathogens in children who are subject to profound dysregulation of the B-cell compartment due to infection with HIV. Infants and children are still in the process to acquire immunity to a wide variety of common pathogens including Plasmodium falciparum in malaria endemic areas. The proposed study will determine to which degree children infected with HIV maintain specific memory B cells responses to common childhood pathogens and vaccines before and after co-trimoxazole prophylaxis compared to HIV-uninfected children. In addition, we will establish whether co-trimoxazole prophylaxis has a beneficial effect on antigen-specific B-cell memory responses in HIV-infected children.

Phenotype and function of B cells in children infected with P. falciparum malaria

Principal Investigator(s): 
Britta C Urban
Principal Investigator(s): 
Eunice Wambui Nduati

In parallel, we (Dr. Eunice Nduati, Agnes Gwela, Britta Urban) determine the phenotype and function of B cells in response to infected red blood cells using an in vitro activation assay and flow cytometry in healthy children and adults and in children with acute malaria and after convalescence. The aim of this study is to elucidate the defect that underlies the short-lived nature of antibody responses to many parasite antigens in children living in endemic areas. We have shown that memory B cells to the parasite can be detected in children for at least four months after an acute malaria episode indicating that memory B cells are generated and maintained.