Plasmodium falciparum News and Research

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Potential drug target for malaria

Researchers have identified an enzyme crucial to the malaria parasite's invasion of red blood cells, according to a study in the open-access journal, PLoS Pathogens.

26 Nov 2005

Fundamental insight about protein evolution

While searching for new targets for malaria drugs and vaccines, a team including a Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) medical student fellow reached a fundamental insight about evolution: different species make use of similar sets of proteins in different ways.

3 Nov 2005

New method to find deadly malaria parasite

Researchers at UCSD have discovered that the single-cell parasite responsible for an estimated 1 million deaths per year worldwide from malaria has protein "wiring" that differs markedly from the cellular circuitry of other higher organisms

3 Nov 2005

Researchers gain insights into how malaria pathogen destroys the cells in which it resides

By specially tagging the outer and inner membranes of red blood cells infected with the malaria parasite and tracking the cellular changes that precede the cell bursting event that disperses parasites to other blood cells, a group of researchers has deepened our understanding of how the malaria pathogen destroys the cells in which it resides.

26 Sep 2005

Researchers determine the sequence in which the malaria parasite disperses from the red blood cells it infects

Researchers at the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development have determined the sequence in which the malaria parasite disperses from the red blood cells it infects. The National Institute of Child Health and Human Development is one of the Institutes comprising the National Institutes of Health.

19 Sep 2005

Collaborators seek parasite invasion blockers

A malaria research team, including WEHI Structural Biologist, Professor Ray Norton, has received a US$1 million grant from the US National Institutes of Health to develop more effective malaria treatments.

7 Sep 2005

WHO urges responsible use of antimalarial medicines

In a new report published today, ''Susceptibility of Plasmodium Falciparum to Antimalarial Drugs,'' the World Health Organization (WHO) warns that as more and more people gain access to these life-saving malaria medicines, which combine a drug derived from the plant Artemisia annua with a second, synthetic drug, it is vital that countries closely monitor their effectiveness.

7 Sep 2005

Three-dimensional molecular structure of a promising malaria-vaccine component

An international team of scientists that includes a researcher from the U.S. Department of Energy's Brookhaven National Laboratory has determined the three-dimensional molecular structure of a promising malaria-vaccine component.

29 Aug 2005

Malaria researchers find the parasite's housebreaking tool

Plasmodium falciparum, the most lethal malaria parasite, is a housebreaking villain of the red blood cell world. Like a burglar searching for a way in to his targeted premises, the parasite explores a variety of potential entry points to invade the red blood cells of its human victims. When a weak point is found, the intrusion proceeds.

28 Aug 2005

Valuable clues for rational antimalarial drug design and vaccine development

By determining the molecular structure of a protein that enables malaria parasites to invade red blood cells, researchers have uncovered valuable clues for rational antimalarial drug design and vaccine development. The findings are reported in the July 29 issue of the journal Cell.

28 Jul 2005

HIV/AIDS drugs may also be effective against malaria

Researchers at The Queensland Institute of Medical Research (QIMR) have found that drugs used to treat HIV Aids may also be effective against the biggest killer in the world - malaria.

2 Jun 2005

Molecular models advance the fight against malaria

Research from Dartmouth Medical School, demonstrating how malaria parasites form mutations that make them stubbornly resistant to drug therapy, may hold the key to a new treatments for a disease that afflicts more than half a billion people worldwide.

25 Apr 2005

Anti-malarial drug treatment given to infants can protect them for two years

Giving children intermittent preventative treatment against malaria under the age of one can protect them from the disease in their second year of life, suggests a study in this week’s issue of The Lancet.

21 Apr 2005

Anti-malarial drug combo could help address malaria crisis in Africa

Using a combination of two drugs—artemether and lumefantrine—is the most effective way to treat malaria in the areas of Africa where resistance to commonly used malaria drugs is high, concludes a randomised trial published in this week’s issue of The Lancet.

21 Apr 2005

Malaria's secret weapon revealed

A US-led international team of scientists have discovered how the deadliest malaria parasite is able to "hide" from the body's immune system.

10 Apr 2005

Research helps understand how the malaria parasite disguises itself to avoid detection by the immune system

Scientists are making strides in understanding how the malaria parasite Plasmodium falciparum disguises itself to avoid detection by the immune system. The findings could lead to the development of new drugs for a disease that causes more than 300 million acute illnesses and at least one million deaths each year, most of them in developing countries.

7 Apr 2005

Half a billion cases of malaria occur each year

An international team of specialists in tropical medicine say at least half a billion cases of malaria occur each year, nearly 50% more than current estimates by World Health Organisation (WHO).

9 Mar 2005

Using models to understand malaria

Malaria is one of the world's major killers. More than 500 million people live in epidemic regions and some 2 million - mostly children - die each year. And each year, drug resistance increases in the malarial parasite, Plasmodium falciparum, and the search for new treatments becomes more desperate.

12 Jan 2005

New malaria enzyme laid bare with help of computer calculations

Using only computers, a research team at Uppsala University in Sweden has managed to reveal both the structure and the function of a newly discovered enzyme from the most dangerous malaria parasite, Plasmodium falciparum.

8 Dec 2004

Health Protection Agency is reminding travellers about the importance of protecting themselves against malaria when travelling

Following twelve recent cases of malaria, mainly amongst European and North American visitors to the Dominican Republic, the Health Protection Agency is reminding travellers about the importance of protecting themselves against malaria when travelling to parts of the world where malaria is commonplace, including the Dominican Republic.

6 Dec 2004