Plasmodium falciparum News and Research

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Detailed, 3D image of malaria protein could help develop new antimalarial drugs

The first three-dimensional image capturing a critical malaria 'conductor' protein could lead to the development of a new class of antimalarial drugs.

28 Jul 2015

Scientists uncover how CD68 protein acts as gateway for malaria parasite to enter the liver

Scientists uncover a port of liver entry for malaria parasites in a report published in The Journal of Experimental Medicine. If these results hold up in humans, drugs that target this entry protein might help prevent the spread of disease.

28 Jul 2015

First malaria vaccine a step closer

Mosquirix, the first malaria vaccine to be submitted for regulatory approval, has gained the support of the European Medicines Agency’s Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use (CHMP).

24 Jul 2015

New drug cures malaria in mice

A new drug acts as a roadblock for malaria, curing mice of established infection, according to a study in The Journal of Experimental Medicine. Treatment was not associated with obvious side effects, suggesting that the drug may also be safe and effective in humans.

21 Jul 2015

Scientists find potent agent that thwarts drug resistance in malaria parasite

Scientists have made an important breakthrough in the fight against malaria, identifying a potent agent that thwarts drug resistance in the parasite that causes the disease.

20 Jul 2015

Government of the Republic of Equatorial Guinea to sponsor development of Sanaria PfSPZ Vaccine for malaria

The Government of the Republic of Equatorial Guinea announced an agreement with industry partners, Marathon Oil Corporation, Noble Energy Inc. and AMPCO, to sponsor the clinical development of Sanaria PfSPZ Vaccine against malaria, including a series of clinical trials from 2015 until 2018.

30 Jun 2015

March of Dimes funds studies that explore factors, mechanisms involved in placental malaria

Malaria infection during pregnancy poses serious risks to women and infants. The March of Dimes Foundation, an American organization that works to improve pregnancy and baby health, has now funded Carlos Penha-Goncalves' laboratory, at the Instituto Gulbenkian de Ciencia (IGC, Portugal), for their studies on factors and mechanisms involved in placental malaria. This is the first time that this American Foundation funds research from a Portuguese Institution.

3 Jun 2015

Discovery opens up new avenue for development of potential therapies to treat, prevent malaria

Scientists have identified a protein on the surface of human red blood cells that serves as an essential entry point for invasion by the malaria parasite. This discovery opens up a promising new avenue for the development of therapies to treat and prevent malaria.

8 May 2015

Scientific study confirms harmful effect of submicroscopic malarial infections during pregnancy

A scientific study conducted in Benin by researchers from IRD and the Centre for study and research on pregnancy associated malaria and infancy (CERPAGE, Benin) confirms the harmful impact of submicroscopic malarial infections during pregnancy. These complications include maternal anaemia, premature births and low birthweights in children.

28 Apr 2015

Researchers pinpoint new mechanism responsible for malaria progression

A team of researchers from four universities has pinpointed one of the mechanisms responsible for the progression of malaria, providing a new target for possible treatments.

28 Apr 2015

GenVec, Laboratory of Malaria Immunology and Vaccinology sign research collaboration agreement

GenVec, Inc. today announced that it has signed a research collaboration agreement with the Laboratory of Malaria Immunology and Vaccinology of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health.

21 Apr 2015

Study explores artemisinin resistance in Plasmodium falciparum malaria

According to the World Health Organization's 2014 World Malaria Report, there are an estimated 198 million cases of malaria worldwide with 3.3 billion people at risk for contracting the infection. Although the impact of malaria is still significant, the statistics reflect a considerable reduction in the global malaria burden. Since 2010, disease transmission has been reduced by 30 percent and mortality due to malaria has decreased by almost half.

21 Apr 2015

Malaria parasites with Ap2mu gene mutation less sensitive to antimalarial drug artemisinin

Early indicators of the malaria parasite in Africa developing resistance to the most effective drug available have been confirmed, according to new research published in Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy.

20 Apr 2015

Blood group O provides protection against severe malaria

It has long been known that people with blood type O are protected from dying of severe malaria. In a study published in Nature Medicine, a team of Scandinavian scientists explains the mechanisms behind the protection that blood type O provides, and suggest that the selective pressure imposed by malaria may contribute to the variable global distribution of ABO blood groups in the human population.

10 Mar 2015

Researchers reveal how malaria parasite deploys genetic trickery to escape immune system attack

Up to one million people -- mainly pregnant woman and young children -- are killed each year by the Plasmodium falciparum parasite, which causes the most devastating form of human malaria.

26 Feb 2015

Researchers develop novel approach to identify potential antimalarial drugs

Each year nearly 600,000 people--mostly children under age five and pregnant women in sub-Saharan Africa--die from malaria, caused by single-celled parasites that grow inside red blood cells. The most deadly malarial species--Plasmodium falciparum--has proven notoriously resistant to treatment efforts.

12 Feb 2015

Researchers identify molecular pathways that could lead to new therapeutic targets for cerebral malaria

A drug already approved for treating other diseases may be useful as a treatment for cerebral malaria, according to researchers at Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health. They discovered a novel link between food intake during the early stages of infection and the outcome of the disease, identifying two molecular pathways that could serve as new targets for treatment.

30 Jan 2015

Study unveils genetic architecture that enables parasite to develop antimalarial drug resistance

The largest genome-wide association study to date of the malaria parasite Plasmodium falciparum unveils a complex genetic architecture that enables the parasite to develop resistance to our most effective antimalarial drug, artemisinin. The results could help to improve early detection of emerging artemisinin resistance.

20 Jan 2015

Study finds that K13 gene mutations cause malaria drug resistance in Southeast Asia

Growing resistance to malaria drugs in Southeast Asia is caused by a single mutated gene inside the disease-causing Plasmodium falciparum parasite, according to a study led by David Fidock, PhD, professor of microbiology & immunology and of medical sciences (in medicine) at Columbia University Medical Center.

12 Dec 2014

Researchers develop nanomimics of host cell membranes that trick malaria parasites

Malaria parasites invade human red blood cells, they then disrupt them and infect others. Researchers at the University of Basel and the Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute have now developed so-called nanomimics of host cell membranes that trick the parasites. This could lead to novel treatment and vaccination strategies in the fight against malaria and other infectious diseases.

9 Dec 2014