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Scientists locate malaria parasites' Achilles heal
Sunday April 22, 2012 08:36:00 PM,
IANS
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London: Scientists
have identified a key protein common to malaria parasites, opening
the way to more effective vaccines or drugs against the
life-threatening infections caused by the micro-organisms.
The protein has sticky properties that enable it to bind to red
blood cells among humans and other animals and form dangerous
clumps that can block blood vessels. These clumps can cause severe
illness, including coma and brain damage.
Scientists from the University of Edinburgh worked with
researchers from Cameroon, Mali, Kenya and the Gambia to test
their antibodies against the parasites collected from patients,
the journal Public Library of Science Pathogens, reports.
Alexandra Rowe, professor at the Edinburgh School of Biological
Sciences, who led the study, said: "We knew that clusters, or
rosettes, of blood cells were found in many cases of severe or
life-threatening malaria, so we looked at rosette-forming
parasites and found a common factor that we could target with
antibodies."
"We hope this discovery will inform new treatments or vaccines to
block the formation of rosettes and prevent many life-threatening
cases of malaria," added Rowe, according to an Edinburgh
statement.
Presently, between 10 and 20 percent of people with severe malaria
die from it, and the disease - which is spread through mosquito
bites - kills one million people every year, most of them being
children. The parasites, once in the bloodstream, are able to
alter the protein molecules on their surfaces to evade attack by
the immune system.
These surface proteins are usually poor targets for treatments or
vaccines because they are highly variable between different
malaria parasite strains.
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