Plasmodium
Research Article | Host-Microbe BiologyAn Endoplasmic Reticulum CREC Family Protein Regulates the Egress Proteolytic Cascade in Malaria ParasitesThe divergent eukaryotic parasites that cause malaria grow and divide within a vacuole inside a host cell, which they have to break open once they finish cell division. The egress of daughter parasites requires the activation of a proteolytic cascade, and a subtilisin-like protease initiates a proteolytic cascade to break down the membranes blocking egress. It is assumed that the parasite endoplasmic reticulum plays a role in this...
Research Article | Host-Microbe BiologyRNA-Seq Analysis Illuminates the Early Stages of Plasmodium Liver InfectionThe LS of Plasmodium infection is an asymptomatic yet necessary stage for producing blood-infective parasites, the causative agents of malaria. Blocking the liver stage of the life cycle can prevent clinical malaria, but relatively less is known about the parasite’s biology at this stage. Using the rodent model P. berghei, we investigated whole-transcriptome...
Research Article | Molecular Biology and PhysiologyPlasmodium yoelii Erythrocyte-Binding-like Protein Modulates Host Cell Membrane Structure, Immunity, and Disease SeverityMalaria is a deadly parasitic disease that continues to afflict hundreds of millions of people every year. Infections with malaria parasites can be asymptomatic, with mild symptoms, or fatal, depending on a delicate balance of host immune responses. Malaria parasites enter host red blood cells (RBCs) through interactions between parasite ligands and host receptors, such as erythrocyte-binding-like (EBL) proteins and host Duffy antigen...
Research Article | Host-Microbe BiologyAntibodies to Cryptic Epitopes in Distant Homologues Underpin a Mechanism of Heterologous Immunity between Plasmodium vivax PvDBP and Plasmodium falciparum VAR2CSAIn this work, we describe a molecular mechanism of heterologous immunity between two distant species of Plasmodium. Our results suggest a mechanism that subverts the classic parasite strategy of presenting highly polymorphic epitopes in surface antigens to evade immunity to that parasite. This alternative immune pathway can be exploited to protect pregnant women from falciparum placental malaria by designing vaccines to cryptic...
Letter to the Editor | Host-Microbe BiologyFurther Mechanisms and Locations in Which Antisporozoite Antibodies Neutralize Malaria Sporozoites
Research Article | Host-Microbe BiologyUncoupling the Threading and Unfoldase Actions of Plasmodium HSP101 Reveals Differences in Export between Soluble and Insoluble ProteinsThe Plasmodium parasites that cause malaria export hundreds of proteins into their host red blood cell (RBC). These exported proteins drastically alter the structural and functional properties of the RBC and play critical roles in parasite virulence and survival. To access the RBC cytoplasm, parasite proteins must pass through the Plasmodium translocon of exported proteins (PTEX) located at the membrane interfacing the...
Minireview | Host-Microbe BiologyAlternative Splicing in Apicomplexan ParasitesAlternative splicing is a widespread, essential, and complex component of gene regulation. Apicomplexan parasites have long been recognized to produce alternatively spliced transcripts for some genes and can produce multiple protein products that are essential for parasite growth.
Research Article | Molecular Biology and PhysiologySuppression of Drug Resistance Reveals a Genetic Mechanism of Metabolic Plasticity in Malaria ParasitesUnique and essential aspects of parasite metabolism are excellent targets for development of new antimalarials. An improved understanding of parasite metabolism and drug resistance mechanisms is urgently needed. The antibiotic fosmidomycin targets the synthesis of essential isoprenoid compounds from glucose and is a candidate for antimalarial development. Our report identifies a novel mechanism of drug resistance and further describes a...
- Research ArticleImmune Regulation of Plasmodium Is Anopheles Species Specific and Infection Intensity Dependent
Malaria, one of the world’s deadliest diseases, is caused by Plasmodium parasites that are vectored to humans by the bite of Anopheles mosquitoes. The mosquito’s innate immune system is actively engaged in suppressing Plasmodium infection. Studies on mosquito immunity revealed multiple factors that act as either facilitators or inhibitors of Plasmodium infection, but these findings were mostly based...