Cerebral malaria and developmental biology: making parasites grow-up.
Erythrocytes infected with the protozoan parasite Plasmodium falciparum, in the final stages of asexual development, sequester and adhere to the lining of capillaries in the brain; killing 1-3 million (mostly children under the age of 5) each year. I will argue here that the rapidly evolving tools of developmental biology be employed to find a way of inducing gametocytogenesis, thereby making the parasite 'grow-up' prematurely, and in large numbers alleviating the severe symptoms in the brain.
Pearson
R D
RD
Gerstein Science Information Centre, University of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. pearsonr@libraryy.utoronto.ca
D000818:Animals; D006801:Humans; D016779:Malaria, Cerebral / Q000469:parasitology*; D016778:Malaria, Falciparum / Q000469:parasitology*; D010963:Plasmodium falciparum / Q000254:growth & development*