Unveiling A Molecule That Gives Malaria A ‘Cloak Of Invisibility’

Australian researchers have discovered a molecule called PfSET10 that is key to malaria’s ‘invisibility cloak.’

AsianScientist (Jan. 19, 2012) – Researchers from the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute have discovered a molecule that is key to malaria’s ‘invisibility cloak.’

In research published today in the journal Cell Host & Microbe, Professor Alan Cowman and colleagues reveal details about the first molecule found to control the genetic expression of PfEMP1 (Plasmodium falciparum erythrocyte membrane protein 1), a protein that is known to be a major cause of disease during malaria infection.

“The molecule that we discovered, named PfSET10, plays an important role in the genetic control of PfEMP1; an essential parasite protein that is used during specific stages of parasite development for its survival,” Professor Cowman said.

“This is the first protein that has been found at what we call the ‘active’ site, where control of the genes that produce PfEMP1 occurs. Knowing the genes involved in the production of PfEMP1 is key to understanding how this parasite escapes the defenses deployed against it by our immune system,” he said.

PfEMP1 plays two important roles in malaria infection. First, it enables the parasite to stick to cells on the internal lining of blood vessels, which prevents the infected cells from being eliminated from the body.

Second, it is also responsible for helping the parasite to escape destruction by the immune system, by varying the genetic code of the PfEMP1 protein.

“As we better understand the systems that control how the PfEMP1 protein is encoded and produced by the parasite, including the molecules that are involved in controlling the process, we will be able to produce targeted treatments that would be more effective in preventing malaria infection in the approximately three billion people who are at risk of contracting malaria worldwide,” he said.

Each year more than 250 million people are infected with malaria and approximately 655,000 people, mostly children, die. Plasmodium falciparum is the most lethal of the four Plasmodium species, and new vaccines and treatments for the disease are urgently required.

The article can be found at: Volz JC et al. (2012) PfSET10, a Plasmodium falciparum Methyltransferase, Maintains the Active var Gene in a Poised State during Parasite Division.

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Source: WEHI.
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