GENETICS OF DRUG RESISTANCE AND PATHOGENIC MECHANISMS IN P FALCIPARUM MALARIA

寄生虫病实验室疟疾遗传学科对控制疟疾的药物反应、发病机制和传播的因素进行基础研究。这项工作包括联系图绘制、实地人口调查、基因操纵和基因产物分析等战略，以期发现基本的生物信息，用于开发新的诊断方法、治疗方法和防治该疾病的措施。该部分的研究主要集中在恶性疟原虫上，这种寄生虫导致最严重的疟疾，每年造成200万至300万人死于疟疾。目前的研究项目包括：1)耐药性的分子机制，特别是疟疾菌株对氯喹、奎宁和甲氟喹等重要抗寄生虫药物的耐药性；2)寄生红细胞抗原变异和免疫逃避的基因转录开关和DNA重组事件；3)非洲儿童血红蛋白C和S（镰状细胞）的流行病学及其对重症疟疾的保护作用；12号染色体上的一种遗传缺陷，对雄性配子体的发育有不利影响。——疟疾;耐药;抗原变异;血红蛋白;镰状细胞;氯喹;奎宁;甲氟喹合成;遗传学;基因组学-人类受试者&人类受试者：访谈，问卷调查或调查

The Malaria Genetics Section of the Laboratory of Parasitic Diseases conducts basic research on factors that govern the drug response, pathogenesis and transmission of malaria. The work incorporates strategies of linkage mapping, field population surveys, gene manipulation and gene product analysis with a view toward the discovery of fundamental biological information that will be of use in the development of new diagnostics, therapeutics and control measures against the disease. The research of the section largely focuses upon Plasmodium falciparum, the parasite that causes the most severe form of malaria and produces 2-3 million deaths each year from the disease. Current projects include investigations of 1) molecular mechanisms of drug resistance, particularly the resistance of malaria strains to such crucial anti-parasite drugs as chloroquine, quinine, and mefloquine; 2) gene transcription switches and DNA recombination events responsible for the antigenic variation and immune evasion of parasitized red blood cells; 3) epidemiology of hemoglobins C and S (sickle-cell) and their protection against severe malaria in African children; 4) a genetic defect in chromosome 12 that adversely affects the development of male gametocytes. - malaria; drug resistance; antigenic variation; hemoglobins; sickle-cell; chloroquine; quinine; mefloquine; genetics; genomics - Human Subjects & Human Subjects: Interview, Questionaires, or Surveys Only