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Tag: malaria

Integrative genetic manipulation of Plasmodium cynomolgi reveals MultiDrug Resistance-1 Y976F associated with increased in vitro susceptibility to mefloquine

Donna Huber on December 7, 2022

The lack of a long-term in vitro culture method has severely restricted the study of Plasmodium vivax, in part because it limits genetic manipulation and reverse genetics. We used the recently optimized P. cynomolgi Berok in vitro culture model to investigate the putative P. vivax drug resistance marker MDR1 Y976F. Introduction of this mutation using …

Cephalotane-type C20 diterpenoids from Cephalotaxus fortunei var. alpina

Donna Huber on November 4, 2022

Seventeen new cephalotane-type diterpenoids, fortalides A-Q (1-17), along with five known analogues, were isolated from the seeds of Cephalotaxus fortunei var. alpina. Their structures were determined by extensive spectroscopic methods, as well as electronic circular dichroism (ECD) and X-ray crystallographic data analyses. Some isolates exhibited unusual structural features that were first found in cephalotane-type diterpenoids, such as the …

Liver-stage fate determination in Plasmodium vivax parasites: Characterization of schizont growth and hypnozoite fating from patient isolates

Donna Huber on September 23, 2022

Plasmodium vivax, one species of parasite causing human malaria, forms a dormant liver stage, termed the hypnozoite, which activate weeks, months or years after the primary infection, causing relapse episodes. Relapses significantly contribute to the vivax malaria burden and are only killed with drugs of the 8-aminoquinoline class, which are contraindicated in many vulnerable populations. …

UGA researcher uncovers humans’ natural weapon against malaria

Donna Huber on September 22, 2022

UGA’s Samarchith “Sam” Kurup, assistant professor of cellular biology, has been awarded a five-year National Institutes of Health grant to study the natural immune response to the Plasmodium parasite—which causes malaria—in liver cells. (photo credit: Lauren Corcino) Samarchith “Sam” Kurup grew up in India, and he’s always been aware of the impact of malaria. In …

Streamlining sporozoite isolation from mosquitoes by leveraging the dynamics of migration to the salivary glands

Donna Huber on September 13, 2022

Background: Sporozoites isolated from the salivary glands of Plasmodium-infected mosquitoes are a prerequisite for several basic and pre-clinical applications. Although salivary glands are pooled to maximize sporozoite recovery, insufficient yields pose logistical and analytical hurdles; thus, predicting yields prior to isolation would be valuable. Preceding oocyst densities in the midgut is an obvious candidate. However, it …

Single-cell RNA profiling of Plasmodium vivax-infected hepatocytes reveals parasite- and host- specific transcriptomic signatures and therapeutic targets

Donna Huber on August 25, 2022

The resilience of Plasmodium vivax, the most widely-distributed malaria-causing parasite in humans, is attributed to its ability to produce dormant liver forms known as hypnozoites, which can activate weeks, months, or even years after an initial mosquito bite. The factors underlying hypnozoite formation and activation are poorly understood, as is the parasite's influence on the host …

Direct type I interferon signaling in hepatocytes controls malaria

Donna Huber on July 19, 2022

Malaria is a devastating disease impacting over half of the world's population. Plasmodium parasites that cause malaria undergo obligatory development and replication in hepatocytes before infecting red blood cells and initiating clinical disease. While type I interferons (IFNs) are known to facilitate innate immune control to Plasmodium in the liver, how they do so has …

Fagbami named 2022 Burroughs Wellcome Fund PDEP Fellow

Donna Huber on July 13, 2022

UGA’s Lọla Fagbami, winner of a Burroughs Wellcome Fund 2022 Postdoctoral Diversity Enrichment Program fellowship, is a native of Lagos, Nigeria, who relocated to the United States with her family in the late 1990s. She is passionate about expanding scientific literacy through outreach and mentoring as well as refuting chemophobia—the fear of or aversion to …

Polymorphic Molecular Signatures in Variable Regions of the Plasmodium falciparum var2csa DBL3x Domain Are Associated with Virulence in Placental Malaria

Donna Huber on April 28, 2022

The Plasmodium falciparum protein VAR2CSA allows infected erythrocytes to accumulate within the placenta, inducing pathology and poor birth outcomes. Multiple exposures to placental malaria (PM) induce partial immunity against VAR2CSA, making it a promising vaccine candidate. However, the extent to which VAR2CSA genetic diversity contributes to immune evasion and virulence remains poorly understood. The deep sequencing of …