Malaria Research Today is a free monthly online journal that collates and summarizes the latest research about Malaria, including details on prevention, treatment, causes, mosquitoes.

Protein targeting from malaria parasites to host erythrocytes.

Römisch K

University of Cambridge, Cambridge Institute for Medical Research and Department of Clinical Biochemistry, Cambridge CB2 2XY, UK. kbr20@cam.ac.uk

Malaria is caused by obligate intracellular parasites, which live in host erythrocytes and remodel these cells to provide optimally for their own needs. Plasmodium falciparum, responsible for malaria in humans, transports many proteins into erythrocytes which help the parasite survive in the host. The recent discovery of a host cell-targeting sequence present in both soluble and transmembrane P. falciparum proteins provoked a discussion on the potential mechanisms of parasite protein entry into infected erythrocytes which is summarized here.

Published 6 July 2005 in Traffic, 6(8): 706-9.
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