Detecting weaknesses of malaria parasites

Scientists working at the University of California, San Francisco, USA, have found an important weakness in the cellular structure of the malaria Plasmodium falciparum parasite. The results of this study will provide a promising goal for new methods to treat malaria.

Anopheles albimanus mosquitoes, the main culprit spreading malaria in Central America.

This weakness is related to the internal structure of malaria-causing parasites called apicoplast organelles. About a decade ago, Joseph DeRisi, a molecular biologist working at the University of California, San Francisco, USA, began to care about an organ inside the malaria parasite cell known for name apicoplast. However, researchers still do not have a clear understanding of the mechanism of action of this apicoplast organelle.

Until, Dr. Ellen Yeh, graduated from a recent doctorate in medical research at Stanford University, and is currently working in DeRisi's laboratory. Yeh cares about the transformation chain. These are biochemical processes that apicoplasts organelles carry out through the use of chemicals."I'm really attracted by the transformation chain ," Yeh said.

Yeh began observing the metabolic pathways of apicoplasts organelles in malaria-causing parasites. "It seems that there is only one metabolic pathway that the Plasmodium falciparum parasite causes malaria, which is where parasites can get more chemical compounds to survive ."

To prove it, Yeh created a group of parasites that lost the organelles apicoplasts. Normally, without apicoplast organelles, the parasites will die. But Yeh added a chemical to an important metabolic pathway for these parasites to grow. " It was a pretty great day in the lab, when I came in and the parasites were alive even though they had no apicoplast organelles, but because I added an important chemical, so the This parasite continues to live, "she said.

The results of this study have been published in PLoS Biology .

DeRisi, Yeh's colleague, said: "This is an important chemical for the survival of the Plasmodium falciparum malaria parasite." " Currently, we can design, or search for specific drugs to inhibit this malaria-causing parasite chemical, in place of other ineffective malaria drugs. " , DeRisi said.

In fact, DeRisi has a start: fosmidomycin , a new drug that targets apicoplast organelles. But according to Boris Striepen, a malaria researcher at the University of Georgia, USA, fosmidomycin is not a great drug, because it is excreted too quickly from the patient's body. Boris Striepen thinks that these new findings will make finding drugs better, and much easier.

However, according to Striepen: malaria parasites need to be destroyed by a powerful drug. " It is necessary to develop a truly new drug that is effective based on the results of the study . "

Currently, apicoplasts organelles exist alone . They are not present in most species, nor in human cells. they have their own DNA, separate from the malaria-causing Plasmodium falciparum parasite.

While scientists analyzed the DNA of apicoplast organelles, they were surprised to find that they are closely related to algae's DNA structure. "This makes the researchers really think: malaria-causing parasites have been closely associated with an algae cell since very long ago, and apicoplast organelles are probably the rest of the cells. algae ", according to Sean Prigge, works at the Johns Hopkins Malaria Institute, USA.

Results of the study of apicoplast organelles, a remnant of algae cells, may help to defeat one of the malaria-causing parasites, contributing to the prevention of the leading fatal disease worldwide.