Research led by the University of Nottingham and published in the journal Nature Communications examined a biological process in the malaria parasite that may be important for future treatments.
The study was conducted in collaboration with researchers from, among others, the National Institute of Immunology in India, the University of Groningen in the Netherlands, and the Francis Crick Institute in the United Kingdom.
The aim was to gain a better understanding of how the malaria parasite grows and reproduces in both humans and mosquitoes.
The parasite’s development
Malaria is caused by parasites from the genus Plasmodium. The parasite can spread between people through mosquitoes and reproduces rapidly in both hosts.
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To combat the disease, researchers are trying to understand the biological mechanisms that enable the parasite to divide and form new cells.
In laboratory experiments, the researchers therefore examined how the parasite organizes its genetic material during reproduction.
An important protein
The researchers identified a protein that appears to be crucial to the process. The protein is called Aurora-related kinase 1, also known as ARK1.
According to the researchers, ARK1 helps control how the parasite distributes its genetic material when new parasite cells are formed.
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The experiments showed that when the researchers deactivated the protein, the parasite could no longer develop properly.
As a result, it was unable to complete its life cycle in either humans or mosquitoes.
The researchers believe that ARK1 could become a potential target for future malaria drugs, because the protein differs from similar proteins found in human cells.
Sources: Science Daily, and Nature Communications.
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