Tubovesicular traffic induced in red cells in plasmodia

Northwestern University At Chicago, Evanston IL

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Abstract

[unreadable] DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Malaria is a major infectious disease. Conservative estimates predict 2-300 million people are afflicted and over a million children die from the infection each year. The growing threat of drug resistant forms of malaria has created an urgent requirement for new drugs. Targeting unique features of host and parasite interactions provides one approach to new drug and vaccine development. Plasmodium falciparum causes the most virulent form of human malaria. A striking feature of P. falciparum is its development in a vacuole when it infects the red cell. This host cell is non-endocytic and does not invaginate its plasma membrane. Yet P. falciparum induces both membrane invagination and vacuole formation in these cells. Thus it must induce endocytic mechanisms to take up solutes and macro-molecules. The long term aim of this proposal is to identify and characterize the mechanisms by which erythrocytic vacuoles are induced by malaria parasites and their implications on drug and toxin delivery. The studies will contribute to our understanding of the basic biology of the erythrocyte and parasite, and thereby contribute to human health. Molecular, genetic tools using transfection, genomics combined with high resolution imaging techniques and biochemical subcellular fractionation assays will be used to identify and purify host membrane components that are recruited into the vacuole and evaluate their interactions with specific lipids and protein components of both host and parasite origin. The consequence of ablation of host or parasite gene products or expression of trans-dominant forms of mutant parasite genes on vacuole formation, drug and toxin uptake and parasite growth will be evaluated in vitro cultures. These studies maybe important for understanding mechanisms of chemo and immune-prophylaxis directed against a major human pathogen.200-300 million people suffer from malaria and over a million children die from it each year. This is because there is widespread resistance to existing drugs and no vaccine available to prevent the disease. Our studies are aimed at understanding how to better target drugs and other therapies at this major human pathogen. [unreadable] [unreadable] [unreadable]