Asexual deviants take over
Article Abstract:
The malarial parasite Plasmodium falciparum can change the antigenic phenotype of its surface antigen and the specificity of adhesion receptors on infected cells, which allows the parasite to thwart the body's immunological defenses and to infect erythrocytes. D.J. Roberts and colleagues have demonstrated how the parasite's ability to alter its cell-surface molecules will make developing new antimalarial drugs and vaccines difficult. The parasite can turn itself into an asexual deviant form whose varying phenotypes aid in defeating the body's defenses.
Publication Name: Nature
Subject: Zoology and wildlife conservation
ISSN: 0028-0836
Year: 1992
User Contributions:
Comment about this article or add new information about this topic:
Sporozoite invasion
Article Abstract:
Development of an anti-malarial vaccine based on inhibiting the development of malaria sporozoites after they infect hepatocytes is not as promising as F. Cox indicated. Region II of the sporozoite surface protein CS is an improbable avenue for controlling invasive sporozoites because of the immunological characteristics of region II's binding to sulphated glycoproteins.
Publication Name: Nature
Subject: Zoology and wildlife conservation
ISSN: 0028-0836
Year: 1993
User Contributions:
Comment about this article or add new information about this topic:
Cooperating silencing elements in var genes
Article Abstract:
Issues are presented concerning the physiological action of 50 var genes carried by the Plasmodium falciparum malaria parasite. The encoding and silencing of the genes by individual parasites is discussed.
Publication Name: Nature
Subject: Zoology and wildlife conservation
ISSN: 0028-0836
Year: 2001
User Contributions:
Comment about this article or add new information about this topic:
- Abstracts: An unusual mid-Pleistocene monsoon period over Africa and Asia. Annual monsoon rains recorded by Jurassic dunes
- Abstracts: Deconstructing the organizer. Dancing dendrites
- Abstracts: Inter- and intra-sexual selection : the role of song in a lek mating system. Immediate and transitory effects of delayed auditory feedback on bird song production
- Abstracts: Badge size in collared flycatchers predicts outcome of male competition over territories. The effects of territory quality on age-dependent reproductive performance in the northern wheatear, Oenanthe oenanthe
- Abstracts: Victor and victim. Back to the future from 1888. The tracks of thought