The Renovators Dream: Malaria host cell remodelling

Summary Our laboratory investigates the cellular mechanisms underpinning malaria parasite transmission and disease. We investigate the novel banana shaped sexual stages of Plasmodium falciparum, focused on understanding their unique biology and how this contributes to transmission. We are interested in developing and testing drugs and vaccines that may block transmission of the parasite from infected humans to Anopheles mosquitos.

Project Details

The ability of the malaria parasite, to survive within the host relies on its ability to renovate its RBC home. This renovation is facilitated by the export of proteins into the host cell, where they modify the RBCs properties making them rigid and prone to clearance by the spleen. To avoid clearance the parasite builds a multi-protein complex at the RBC surface called the virulence complex consisting of the knob protein KAHRP and the adhesin (PfEMP1). We are interested in understanding how this complex is assembled and defining its molecular structure.