title: The mechanism of erythrocyte invasion by the malarial parasite, Plasmodium falciparum.
abstract: Plasmodium falciparum is the most virulent causative agent of malaria in man accounting for 80% of all malarial infections and 90% of the one million annual deaths attributed to malaria. P. falciparum is a unicellular, Apicomplexan parasite, that spends part of its lifecycle in the mosquito and part in man and it has evolved a special form of motility that enables it to burrow into animal cells, a process termed "host cell invasion". The acute, life threatening, phase of malarial infection arises when the merozoite form of the parasite undergoes multiple cycles of red blood cell invasion and rapid proliferation. Here, we discuss the molecular machinery that enables malarial parasites to invade red blood cells and we focus particularly on the ATP-driven acto-myosin motor that powers invasion.
authors: MRC National Institute for Medical Research, The Ridgeway, Mill Hill, London NW7 1AA, United Kingdom.
authors: Rachel E
authors: RE
authors: Farrow
authors: Judith
authors: J
authors: Green
authors: Zoe
authors: Z
authors: Katsimitsoulia
authors: William R
authors: WR
authors: Taylor
authors: Anthony A
authors: AA
authors: Holder
authors: Justin E
authors: JE
authors: Molloy
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D004906:Erythrocyte Count; D004912:Erythrocytes / Q000276:immunology / Q000378:metabolism / Q000469:parasitology*; D006801:Humans; D008288:Malaria / Q000097:blood* / Q000276:immunology / Q000469:parasitology*; D052940:Merozoites / Q000276:immunology; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009218:Myosins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics; D010963:Plasmodium falciparum / Q000276:immunology / Q000378:metabolism / Q000472:pathogenicity*
chemical_list: D009218:Myosins