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ShareApr. 20, 2012 — Scientists have identified a link between different strains of malaria parasites that cause severe disease. The development could help develop vaccines or drugs against life-threatening cases of the infection.
Researchers have identified a key protein that is common to many potentially fatal forms of the condition.
They found that antibodies that targeted this protein were effective against these severe malaria strains.
Blood blockage
The protein has sticky properties that enable it to bind to red blood cells and form dangerous clumps that can block blood vessels.
These clumps, or rosettes, can cause severe illness, including coma and brain damage.
Presently, between 10 and 20 per cent of people with severe malaria die from it, and the disease -- which is spread by blood-sucking mosquitoes -- claims about one million lives per year.
Hard to treat
Malaria parasites, once in the bloodstream, are able to alter the protein molecules on their surfaces to evade attack by the immune system.
These surface proteins are usually poor targets for treatments or vaccines because they are highly variable between different malaria parasite strains.
Now, researchers have found that the surface proteins of rosette-forming parasites share similarities that may allow them to act as a target for treatments to block progress of the disease.
Scientists from the University of Edinburgh worked with collaborators from Cameroon, Mali, Kenya and The Gambia to test their antibodies against parasites collected from patients.
"We knew that clusters, or rosettes, of blood cells were found in many cases of severe or life-threatening malaria, so we looked at rosette-forming parasites and found a common factor that we could target with antibodies,"
said, Professor Alexandra Rowe of the School of Biological Sciences.
The study, published in PLoS Pathogens, was supported by the Wellcome Trust.
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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by University of Edinburgh.
Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.
Journal Reference:
- Ashfaq Ghumra, Jean-Philippe Semblat, Ricardo Ataide, Carolyne Kifude, Yvonne Adams, Antoine Claessens, Damian N. Anong, Peter C. Bull, Clare Fennell, Monica Arman, Alfred Amambua-Ngwa, Michael Walther, David J. Conway, Lalla Kassambara, Ogobara K. Doumbo, Ahmed Raza, J. Alexandra Rowe. Induction of Strain-Transcending Antibodies Against Group A PfEMP1 Surface Antigens from Virulent Malaria Parasites. PLoS Pathogens, 2012; 8 (4): e1002665 DOI: 10.1371/journal.ppat.1002665
Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.
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