Credit: National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases
The malaria parasite, Plasmodium falciparum, is among the world's deadliest pathogens. Malaria is spread mainly by the bite of infected mosquitoes and is most common in Africa. In 2012, an estimated 207 million cases of malaria occurred worldwide, leading to 627, 000 deaths, according to the World Health Organization. Resistance to drug treatments is spreading among the parasite's many strains, and researchers are working hard to find new drug targets.
Scientists may be able to entomb the malaria parasite in a prison of its own making, researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis report July 16 in Nature.
As it invades a red blood cell, the malaria parasite takes part of the host cell's membrane to build a protective compartment. To grow properly, steal nourishment and dump waste, the parasite then starts a series of major renovations that transform the red blood cell into a suitable home.
But the new research reveals the proteins that make these renovations must pass through a single pore in the parasite's compartment to get into the red blood cell. When the scientists disrupted passage through that pore in cell cultures, the parasite stopped growing and died.
"The malaria parasite secretes hundreds of
diverse proteins to seize control of red blood cells," said first author
Josh R. Beck, PhD, a postdoctoral research scholar. "We've been searching
for a single step that all those various proteins have to take to be secreted,
and this looks like just such a bottleneck."
A separate study by researchers at the Burnet
Institute and Deakin University in Australia, published in the same issue of
Nature, also highlights the importance of the pore to the parasite's survival.
Researchers believe blocking the pore leaves the parasite fatally imprisoned,
unable to steal resources from the red blood cell or dispose of its wastes.
References
1.Griffin, Catherine. July 2014. Science World Report. Scientists Discover New Method to Trap and Kill Malaria Parasite, Halting Its Spread. http://www.scienceworldreport.com/articles/16085/20140717/scientists-discover-new-method-trap-kill-malaria-parasite-halting-spread.htm. Retrieved July 18, 2014.
That was a very interesting article. Malaria is a very serious parasite and hopefully this will finally help reduce, of not eliminate the cases of Malaria occurring. With it being endemic in Africa, and a majority of the people living in endemic areas, not being able to afford the necessary medical care, a majority of the people die. Maybe this will finally be able to reduce the Malaria endemic.
ReplyDeleteI could only imagine how amazing it would be if the cure for malaria was officially discovered in our life time. According to the article, there is a promising target for drug development that can target multiple components of the disease. Since they have discovered that there are many proteins involved in the secretion that are unlike multiple proteins, the scientists claim they may be able to disable them without adversely affecting important human proteins. Hopefully this discovery of P. falciparum and the way it works to infect the host can lead to the discoveries of other organisms and their diseases on populations with such high endemic rates.
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