p.falciparum

Ina study of 10 P. falciparum infected volunteers with submicroscopic parasitemias given a single 200mg dose of artesunate, Rebelo et al (1) report a substantial difference in the ex-vivo growth of sequentially sampled circulating ring stage(2) parasites comparing infections with artemisin insensitive (Pfkelch wild type) and artemisinin resistant(PfkelchR539T)parasites.

Metacaspases are novel cysteine proteases found in apicomplexan whose function is poorly understood. Our earlier studies on Plasmodium falciparum metacaspase-2 (PfMCA-2) revealed that the caspase inhibitor, Z-FA-FMK efficiently inhibited PfMCA-2 activity and, expression, and significantly blocked in vitro progression of the parasite developmental cycle via apoptosis-like parasite death.

The data suggest that focusing the immune response against defined epitopes displayed on the viral capsid is an effective strategy for transmission-blocking vaccine development.

Following invasion of human red blood cells (RBCs) by the malaria parasite, Plasmodium falciparum, a remarkable process of remodeling occurs in the host cell mediated by trafficking of several hundred effector proteins to the RBC compartment.