Malarial parasites accumulate labile zinc pools.
The malarial parasite, Plasmodium falciparum, is an intracellular pathogen and partially dependent on nutrient uptake for survival. In this issue of Chemistry & Biology, Marvin et al. demonstrate that zinc is essential for parasite growth and that the parasite maintains substantial labile cytosolic and mitochondrial zinc pools.
Department of Biological Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 77 Massachusetts Avenue, Room 56-341b, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA. jcniles@mit.edu
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