Malaria pathogen"s cellular skeleton under super-microscope

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The tropical disease malaria is caused by the Plasmodium parasite. For its survival and propagation, Plasmodium requires a protein called actin. Scientists of the Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research (HZI) in Germany used high-resolution structural biology methods to investigate the different versions of this protein in the parasite in high detail. Their results, published in the scientific journal PLOS Pathogens, may in the future contribute to the development of tailor-made drugs against malaria-a disease that causes more than half a million deaths per year.Malaria is a life-threatening disease. According to World Health Organization estimates, around 207 million cases of malaria occurred in 2012. Children in Africa are at an especially high risk, and there is no approved vaccination to date. The disease is caused by Plasmodium parasites-single-celled parasites, which are transmitted by mosquitos. The pathogen enters the human body through a bite and induces typical symptoms like periodic fevers, nausea, and headaches.To enter human cells and leave them again, the parasites need to be motile. To this end, they use a structural protein called actin. Actin is found in nearly all living organisms where it is one of the most abundant proteins. …


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