A single amino acid change in the Plasmodium falciparum RH5 (PfRH5) human RBC binding sequence modifies its structure and determines species-specific binding activity

Identifying the ligands or regions derived from them which parasites use to invade their target cells has proved to be an excellent strategy for identifying targets for vaccine development. Members of the reticulocyte-binding homologue family (P. fRH), including RH5, have been implicated in invasion...