 |
|
Progress in understanding the malarial parasite
September 14, 2007About 2 million people die of malaria every year, of which more than a million are children in sub-Saharan Africa. Malaria is caused by a protozoan parasite belonging to the genus Plasmodium, and Plasmodium falciparum is responsible for the most severe form of malaria. Due to the increasing incidence of resistance to existing drugs, there is a growing need to discover new and more effective drugs against malaria. In a new study publishing in PLoS Computational Biology on September 14, 2007, Dr. Tatu and colleagues from the Indian Institute of Science have constructed a chaperone interaction network for the parasite which provides, for the first time, a rational basis for the anti-malarial effect of known drugs and highlights new proteins that can potentially be used in the fight against malaria.
Recent reports from several labs point to a critical role played by a group of proteins termed molecular chaperones. These chaperones participate in the maintenance and growth of cells and are implicated in parasite survival and growth. Although a vast body of information is available regarding individual chaperones, few studies have attempted a systems level analysis of chaperone function. The researchers' systems-level approach provides information on 95 different chaperones in the parasite and also provides insights into their business partners and cellular processes that they might regulate.
Analysis of the network reveals the broad range of functions regulated by chaperones. The network predicts involvement of chaperones in chromatin remodeling, protein trafficking, and cytoadherence. Importantly, it allows making predictions regarding the functions of hypothetical proteins based on their interactions. Analysis of the network provides a rational basis for the anti-malarial activity of geldanamycin, a well-known Hsp90 inhibitor, and provides a theoretical basis for further experiments designed toward understanding the involvement of this important class of molecules in parasite biology.
Public Library of Science
Public Library of Science
Malaria Current Events and Malaria News RSSStopping germs from ganging up on humans
Keeping germs from cooperating can delay the evolution of drug resistance more effectively than killing germs one by one with traditional drugs such as antibiotics, according to new research from The University of Arizona in Tucson.
Applying 'supply and demand' business principles to treat infectious diseases worldwide
Treating infectious diseases while meeting escalating costs to do so continues to pose worldwide challenges, with one of the main issues being the ability to provide an adequate supply of drugs to treat infectious diseases.
'Airport malaria' -- cause for concern in the US
In a global world, significant factors affect the spread of infectious diseases, including international trade, air travel and globalized food production. "Airport malaria" is a term coined by researchers to explain the more recent spread of malaria to areas such as the United States and Europe, which some scientists credit to warmer climate changes.
Dramatic fall in malaria in the Gambia raises possibility of elimination in parts of Africa
The incidence of malaria has fallen significantly in The Gambia in the last 5 years, according to a study carried out by experts there with support from scientists based in London.
Researchers characterize potential protein targets for malaria vaccine
Researchers from Nijmegen and Leiden have now characterized a large number of parasite proteins that may prove useful in the development of a human malaria vaccine.
Geisinger research: Antimalarial drug prevents diabetes in arthritis patients
The use of an antimalarial medication may prevent the onset of diabetes in patients with rheumatoid arthritis, new Geisinger research shows.
Neighborhood greenness has long term positive impact on kids' health
In the first study to look at the effect of neighborhood greenness on inner city children's weight over time, researchers from the Indiana University School of Medicine, Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis and the University of Washington report that higher neighborhood greenness is associated with slower increases in children's body mass over a two year period, regardless of residential density.
Childhood environmental health
Children are exposed to a wide range of environmental threats that can affect their health and development early in life, throughout their youth and into adulthood.
Researchers estimate lives lost due to delay in antiretroviral drug use for HIV/AIDS in South Africa
More than 330,000 lives were lost to HIV/AIDS in South Africa from 2000 and 2005 because a feasible and timely antiretroviral (ARV) treatment program was not implemented, assert researchers from the Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH) in a study published online by the Journal of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndromes (JAIDS) (http://www.jaids.com/).
Governments urged to fight global child killer
Pneumococcal disease, one of the world's leading causes of death and serious illness, must be recognised as an urgent global health issue together with HIV, malaria and TB, say the UK All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on Pneumococcal Disease Prevention in the Developing World in a report launching at the House of Lords today.
More Malaria Current Events and Malaria News Articles
 | The Conquest of Malaria: Italy, 1900-1962 by Frank Snowden At the outset of the twentieth century, malaria was Italy’s major public health problem. It was the cause of low productivity, poverty, and economic backwardness, while it also stunted literacy, limited political participation, and undermined the army. In this book Frank Snowden recounts how Italy became the world center for the development of malariology as a medical discipline and launched... |
 | The Miraculous Fever-Tree: Malaria and the Quest for a Cure That Changed the World by Fiammetta Rocco "Cinchona revolutionized the art of medicine as profoundly as gunpowder had the art of war." -- Bernardino Ramazzini, Physician to the Duke of Modena, Opera omnia, medica, et physica, 1716 In the summer of 1623, ten cardinals and hundreds of their attendants died in Rome while electing a new pope. The Roman marsh fever that felled them was the scourge of the Mediterranean, northern Europe... |
 | The Making of a Tropical Disease: A Short History of Malaria (Johns Hopkins Biographies of Disease) by Randall M. Packard Malaria sickens hundreds of millions of people -- and kills one to three million -- each year. Despite massive efforts to eradicate the disease, it remains a major public health problem in poorer tropical regions. But malaria has not always been concentrated in tropical areas. How did other regions control malaria and why does the disease still flourish in some parts of the globe?From Russia to... |
 | Malaria (Diseases and Disorders) by Melissa Abramovitz Malaria is a serious disease which affects millions of people and kills many children each day. This book explores how families cope with frequent bouts of malaria and explains what causes the disease, how it is spread, and what is being done to treat and prevent it.... |
| Malaria in Panama (Johns Hopkins University Press Reprints) by James Stevens Simmons | |
 | An Illustrated History of Malaria by C.M. Poser, G.W. Bruyn This is a wonderfully readable, nearly novel-like but masterfully scholarly all-encompassing history of malaria, a disease that still kills 2 to 3 million people every year, with unprecedented documentation of its impact on human events. The book contains more than 250 rare illustrations from obscure sources as well as a bibliography and names and dates section plus index. No other work ever... |
 | Healing the Land and the Nation: Malaria and the Zionist Project in Palestine, 1920-1947 by Sandra M. Sufian A novel inquiry into the sociopolitical dimensions of public medicine, Healing the Land and the Nation traces the relationships between disease, hygiene, politics, geography, and nationalism in British Mandatory Palestine between the world wars. Taking up the case of malaria control in Jewish-held lands, Sandra Sufian illustrates how efforts to thwart the disease were intimately tied to the... |
 | The Malaria Capers : More Tales of Parasites and People, Research and Reality by Robert S. Desowitz Like such eminent science writers as Stephen Jay Gould and Lewis Thomas, Mr. Desowitz manages to make the basic principles of his subject immediately comprehensible to the general reader. He has also succeeded in giving us a profound appreciation of the ways in which scientific and medical knowledge advances, through hypothesis, error and experiment, through serendipity, dedication, and... |
 | Malaria: Poverty, Race, and Public Health in the United States by Margaret Humphreys In Malaria: Poverty, Race, and Public Health in the United States, Margaret Humphreys presents the first book-length account of the parasitic, insect-borne disease that has infected millions and influenced settlement patterns, economic development, and the quality of life at every level of American society, especially in the south.Humphreys approaches malaria from three perspectives: the... |
 | Immunology and Immunopathogenesis of Malaria (Current Topics in Microbiology and Immunology) Malaria is still a major global health problem, killing more than 1 million people every year. Almost all of these deaths are caused by Plasmodium falciparum, one of the four species of malaria parasites infecting humans. This high burden of mortality falls heavily on Sub-Saharan Africa, where over 90% of these deaths are thought to occur, and 5% of children die before the age of 5 years. The... |
| © 2008 BrightSurf.com |