Mechanisms of malaria parasite egress from red blood cells

疟疾的临床症状是由血液中寄生虫的循环复制引起的。这需要成熟寄生虫从宿主红细胞中出来，在此过程中寄生虫破坏它们的包裹液泡和红细胞宿主膜。丰富的寄生虫表面蛋白MSP1在出苗过程中起关键作用。这个项目的重点是导致膜渗透和破裂的级联事件。该学生将使用基因操作和疟疾寄生虫的光学显微镜产生MSP1的条件突变体，然后使用低温电子显微镜和断层扫描来检查膜破坏的分子和细胞机制。

The clinical symptoms of malaria arise from cycles of parasite replication in the blood. This requires egress (exit) of mature parasites from their host erythrocyte, during which the parasites break down their enclosing vacuole and erythrocyte host membranes. The abundant parasite surface protein MSP1 plays a key role in egress. This project focuses on the cascade of events leading to membrane permeabilisation and rupture. The student will generate conditional mutants of MSP1 using genetic manipulation and optical microscopy of malaria parasites, then use cryo electron microscopy and tomography to examine the molecular and cellular mechanisms of membrane disruption.