by Lindsay Taylor Key
(Medical Xpress)—Fighting malaria in today's world will require a new, targeted approach, and Virginia Tech researchers are out for blood.
The parasites responsible for the mosquito-borne infectious disease are increasingly resistant to current drug approaches, and almost half of the world is at risk of contracting an illness.
Maria Belen Cassera, an assistant professor of biochemistry in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, and a Fralin Life Science Institute affiliate, examines the metabolism of the malaria-causing parasite Plasmodium falciparum in order to identify new drug targets.
Her newest project, funded by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases of the National Institutes of Health, will look at the crucial time when malaria is transmitted—when reproductive cell precursors known as gametocytes develop. Specifically, she wants to understand the role that specific metabolites called isoprenoids play in the early stages of development.
"We think that understanding the role of isoprenoids during gametocytogenesis and identifying metabolic steps absent or sufficiently different from its human host will allow us to design more efficient drugs to block malaria transmission, which is one of the key components for malaria elimination and eradication," Cassera said.
The metabolic pathways that the parasite uses are not found in humans, so pathway-specific drugs would have little effect on the human host.
"Dr. Cassera has taken a leap forward in malaria research by identifying a unique pathway at an essential step in parasite development and transmission to mosquitoes," said Vern Schramm, the Ruth Merns Chair and Professor of Biochemistry at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine, and former postdoctoral mentor to Cassera. "Dr. Cassera is one of a select few scientists who can work productively at the level of parasite biochemistry, biology, drug discovery, transmission, and even primate models of the disease. Her talents have been justly recognized by support from the NIH."
Explore further: Malaria drug target raises hopes for new treatments
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© Medical Xpress 2011-2014, Science X network
by Lindsay Taylor Key
(Medical Xpress)—Fighting malaria in today's world will require a new, targeted approach, and Virginia Tech researchers are out for blood.
The parasites responsible for the mosquito-borne infectious disease are increasingly resistant to current drug approaches, and almost half of the world is at risk of contracting an illness.
Maria Belen Cassera, an assistant professor of biochemistry in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, and a Fralin Life Science Institute affiliate, examines the metabolism of the malaria-causing parasite Plasmodium falciparum in order to identify new drug targets.
Her newest project, funded by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases of the National Institutes of Health, will look at the crucial time when malaria is transmitted—when reproductive cell precursors known as gametocytes develop. Specifically, she wants to understand the role that specific metabolites called isoprenoids play in the early stages of development.
"We think that understanding the role of isoprenoids during gametocytogenesis and identifying metabolic steps absent or sufficiently different from its human host will allow us to design more efficient drugs to block malaria transmission, which is one of the key components for malaria elimination and eradication," Cassera said.
The metabolic pathways that the parasite uses are not found in humans, so pathway-specific drugs would have little effect on the human host.
"Dr. Cassera has taken a leap forward in malaria research by identifying a unique pathway at an essential step in parasite development and transmission to mosquitoes," said Vern Schramm, the Ruth Merns Chair and Professor of Biochemistry at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine, and former postdoctoral mentor to Cassera. "Dr. Cassera is one of a select few scientists who can work productively at the level of parasite biochemistry, biology, drug discovery, transmission, and even primate models of the disease. Her talents have been justly recognized by support from the NIH."
Explore further: Malaria drug target raises hopes for new treatments
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Cancer-slowing compound also combats malaria, researchers find
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An extract from a shrub often used for medicinal purposes in tropical Africa may have lethal effects against a dangerous parasite that transmits malaria, according to a multi-institutional team of scientists ...
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Dec 22, 2013
Scientists have taken an important step towards new malaria treatments by identifying a way to stop malaria parasites from multiplying.
New strategy emerges for fighting drug-resistant malaria
Jan 15, 2014
Malaria is one of the most deadly infectious diseases in the world today, claiming the lives of over half a million people every year, and the recent emergence of parasites resistant to current treatments ...
Malaria parasite protein identified as potential new target for drug treatment
Apr 25, 2013
Scientists have discovered how a protein within the malaria parasite is essential to its survival as it develops inside a mosquito. They believe their findings identify this protein as a potential new target for drug treatments ...
Researchers find metabolic pathway in malaria parasites; possible drug targets
Aug 04, 2010
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14 hours ago
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17 hours ago
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New therapeutic target identified for acute lung injury
18 hours ago
A bacterial infection can throw off the equilibrium between two key proteins in the lungs and put patients at risk for a highly lethal acute lung injury, researchers report.
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21 hours ago
A new invention made at the Faculty of Dentistry, University of Oslo, Norway, helps the body generate new bone which is as strong as the original.
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